The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with an additional 1 billion euros ($1.06 billion) in military support this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced on April 12.
The extra support takes the total sum for this year to 3 billion euros, caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on X, formerly Twitter.
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The Netherlands, which has been one of the leading donors of military support to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, also decided to make 3 billion euros available for military support next year in addition to 400 million euros in economic aid that is also intended to help pay for vital repairs to energy infrastructure.
Rutte said the Netherlands will continue working with international partners to do everything possible to expedite the provision of more munitions and air-defense equipment, adding that Amsterdam is working on this closely with Denmark and the Czech Republic, among other countries.
“Ukraine must win this fight. For their security and ours,” he said.
Rutte said he discussed the new aid in a phone call with Zelenskiy and promised to work on accelerating the supply of weapons and ammunition.
"Thank you, Mark, thank you, Dutch people! This is an exemplary case of support for Ukraine," Zelenskiy said on Telegram following the phone call.
Zelenskiy also said he and Rutte discussed working with partners to accelerate the supply of shells for artillery, ammunition, and air-defense systems to Ukraine.
Just last month, Zelenskiy and Rutte signed a package of aid during a visit Rutte made on March 1 to Kharkiv. Zelenskiy put the value of that arms pact at 2 billion euros.
Zelenskiy also noted at the time that the Netherlands belongs to a coalition of states supplying Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets and said then that he and Rutte agreed to speed up the process of supplying Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. Zelenskiy has said F-16s are expected to be part of Ukraine’s forces later this year.