Jetten: Ukraine must not be forgotten as war in Gulf escalates

Prime minister Rob Jetten has used a visit to Kyiv to warn that the conflict in Ukraine must not be forgotten during the conflict in the Middle East.

On his second foreign trip since becoming prime minister, Jetten visited Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reaffirm the Netherlands’ support for his country.

“While the war in Iran is ongoing, the Russian attacks on Ukraine are also ongoing,” Jetten said. “It is crucial that we have enough delivery of weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian armed forces so that they can continue to protect the Ukrainian people.”

Zelenskyy said the hastily organised visit was a sign that Ukraine was a “priority” for the Dutch government.

Concerns have been raised in Kyiv that western governments could divert weapons, such as Patriot air defence systems, to the escalating war against Iran.

Dutch defence minister Dilan Yesilgöz, who visited Kyiv last weekend with foreign affairs minister Tom Berendsen, said on Friday that her ministry would not be giving an extra €2 billion for Ukraine, despite a vote in parliament to that effect in December.

“The Netherlands cannot deliver all the requested support on its own,” she told MPs. Yesilgöz said the government was still committed to €3 billion of aid this year, even though only €2.6 billion has been earmarked in the ministry’s budget.

Row with Orbán

Jetten also discussed the €90 billion aid package from the European Union, which Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán is threatening to block because of a row over Russian gas supplies.

Orban, who is under pressure at home with an election looming on April 10, has accused Ukraine of deliberately stopping the flow of oil to his country and Slovakia through the Druzhba pipeline, but Zelenskyy insists it was damaged by a Russian attack in January.

European leaders are meeting next week to discuss the aid package, which Slovakia has also threatened to block. Jetten said it was “crucial” that the dispute between Orbán and Zelenskyy was settled.