Netherlands to join military exercises with Ukrainian army

The Netherlands will take part in military exercises with the Ukrainian army to prepare an international force that would be deployed in Ukraine if a ceasefire with Russia takes hold, prime minister Rob Jetten has said.

Jetten was speaking after a summit in Paris on Monday of the “coalition of the willing”, the group of 37 countries working on security guarantees for Ukraine, which is led by France and Britain.

The exercises will take place over the coming months in EU countries bordering Ukraine, rather than in Ukraine itself, and will focus on logistics and air defence, Jetten told news agency ANP. The aim, he said, is to prepare soldiers to uphold a peace agreement if one is reached.

French president Emmanuel Macron, who announced the exercises, said they would take place in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries to test the coalition’s deployment plans. The Netherlands said last year it was open to contributing to the force.

Missile defence alliance
The Netherlands also signed up on Monday as one of 10 founding members of a coalition to protect Europe against ballistic missiles, alongside Ukraine, France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

“Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defence capability for Europe,” the countries said in a joint declaration, which cites a growing missile threat.

The group intends to develop interceptor missiles together and pool defence industry capacity, drawing on Ukraine’s wartime experience. Ukraine currently relies on American-made Patriot systems, which are in short supply, to bring down ballistic missiles, which are harder to intercept than cruise missiles or drones.