Defence minister Dilan Yeşilgöz has said the government will not provide additional military support to Ukraine this year beyond the €3 billion already planned.

Parliament voted in December to give Ukraine an extra €2 billion in military aid but the outgoing government had only identified €700 million which had been left over in the defence and foreign affairs ministries’ budgets. That means €1.3 billion still had to be found.

But during a parliamentary debate on the defence ministry budget on Thursday, Yeşilgöz said the government would not make up the difference. “The Netherlands cannot provide all the support that is being asked for on its own,” she said.

The government has allocated €2.6 billion for Ukraine this year and Yeşilgöz said she would soon explain where the remaining €400 million will come from in order to reach the promised annual total of €3 billion.

GroenLinks-PvdA MP Kati Piri criticised the decision not to come up with the extra money, pointing out that coalition parties including the VVD, D66 and CDA had supported the motion in December. She said Ukraine needs additional help now that US support has fallen away.

Yeşilgöz said the Netherlands will remain among the countries providing the most support to Ukraine. She also pointed to the €90 billion loan package agreed by EU member states for Kyiv and said other countries should contribute more financial resources.