Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak have agreed to build an “international coalition” to provide F-16 fighter jets for Ukraine, the Guardian reported on Wednesday.

A British government spokesperson told the paper that Rutte and Sunak “would work to build an international coalition to provide Ukraine with combat air capabilities, supporting with everything from training to procuring F-16 jets”.

The two leaders met in Iceland on Tuesday, where they are taking part in the Council of Europe summit. 

The Dutch government has not yet commented on the reports. However, Rutte said during Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent visit to the Netherlands that the Dutch were working hard behind the scenes to reach a consensus with its allies on supplying fighter jets to Ukraine.

The United Kingdom remains one of the Netherlands’ key partners. In Reykjavík I spoke to Prime Minister @RishiSunak about the issues we’re working on together and, of course, about our ongoing joint support for Ukraine in the face of the terrible Russian aggression. pic.twitter.com/M8ItmkElWh

— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) May 16, 2023

‘We are working with partners like Belgium and Denmark to bring the debate on supplying F-16s to a conclusion,’ he said at the time. He reiterated that supplying fighter jets to Ukraine is not a taboo subject, but said it is not yet a done deal either.

Zelenskyy had hinted on Monday that Kyiv could soon receive F-16 fighter jets after a meeting with Sunak at his country retreat.