Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned his European allies that Russia will undermine the continent’s postwar security if its invasion of his country succeeds.

In a speech to the Dutch parliament, Zelenskyy said the “most decent life Europe has known for centuries” was under threat from Vladimir Putin’s regime, adding that Russia was planning attacks on Nato territory.

He urged European countries to raise their defence spending and hit Russia with “painful sanctions”, but the most important move was to show solidarity so that “no-one has to face them alone”.

His visit to the Netherlands coincides with the Nato summit in The Hague, where Zelenskyy will join world leaders including US president Donald Trump at a dinner hosted by king Willem-Alexander on Tuesday evening.

Zelenskyy began his speech by thanking the Netherlands for being one of Ukraine’s strongest backers in Europe since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022, along with Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Earlier in the day the Dutch defence minister, Ruben Brekelmans, announced another €175 million package of aid to Ukraine, including €80 million to purchase new drones to repel Russian missile strikes and funding for more advanced radar equipment.

Zelenskyy said Putin would only stop if he was confronted by a united European alliance, adding it was “vital” for nations to increase defence spending. “Russia is stronger than any one of us alone, but it is weaker than all of us put together,” he said.

“Putin betrays his partners”

In what appeared to be a veiled warning to Trump, Zelenskyy said Putin “always betrays his partners” and drew an explicit link between Russia and its ally Iran, which has supplied the Shahed drones that have been used to attack Ukrainian cities.

In the wake of the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities at the weekend, Zelenskyy said Russia should not be allowed to “invest in terror” or “threaten with the transfer of nuclear weapons to any regime in the world, including the regime in Tehran”.

“Russia is planning hostile and potentially destructive operations on Nato territory and we must speak honestly about what kind of operations they are and what hatred they show,” he said.

“Moscow never truly respects any lives and always betrays its so-called partners, but it still builds ties with bloody regimes.

“With the help of such friends Russia is simply improving its ability to kill. That’s why solidarity in defence is so important, so that no-one ever has to face them alone.”

International rules

He also invoked The Hague’s status as the home of international justice as he said Russia had to be made to “understand that rules exist”.

“Putin pretends he doesn’t understand what rules shape the modern world and here in The Hague I want to say this very clearly to Putin,” Zelenskyy said.

“There is a rule: do not kill. There is a rule: do not act like a beast towards people. There is a rule: do not burn down citizens’ villages.

“There is also a rule: do not justify or sponsor terrorism. There is a rule: do not steal children. And if you break these rules, there must be responsibility.

“It may be hard for Russia to understand, but these are the very rules that form everything from the UN charter and international law to our shared European way of life – the safest, most decent life Europe has known for centuries.”

Oil price cap

He called for Europe to impose “tough, painful” sanctions against Russia, including cutting its financial institutions out of international banking networks and capping oil prices at $40 a barrel.

“That is what works,” he said. “If we are striking back hard, painfully, then peace will become the most popular topic in Moscow.”

It was the third time Zelenskyy has addressed Dutch MPs since the outbreak of the war. His first speech was by video link in March 2022 because of coronavirus restrictions, while the second was on May 4, 2023, the day the Netherlands commemorates its war dead.

GroenLinks-PvdA MP Jesse Klaver, chair of the foreign affairs committee, said in a short response that the ties between the Netherlands and Ukraine had “grown deeper” in the last three years.

“Our invitation to you today, our multiple visits to your country and most importantly, our repeated votes in this house to continue financial and military support to Ukraine, all show a broad commitment of this parliament towards your defence against Russian aggression, and we hope that you have felt some of that commitment today,” Klaver said.

The only MPs who boycotted Zelenskyy’s speech were the three members for the far-right Forum voor Democratie, unlike last time when Geert Wilders’s PVV and the farmers’ party BBB stayed away. BBB leader Caroline van der Plas said she felt it was inappropriate to invite a foreign leader on the national day of remembrance.