Rutte’s visit to Zelenski has been secretly prepared in recent weeks and has been kept quiet for security reasons.
Candidate membership
The Netherlands is one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine. The Hague has now donated 172 million euros in weapons and military items to the country.
The Netherlands has now also agreed with Ukraine as a candidate member of the European Union. Last month, the Netherlands gave up the resistance. At the end of June, all EU leaders, including Rutte, supported Ukraine’s candidate membership subject to conditions. That was a historic, but above all symbolic moment.
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Talks cannot begin until the war is over and Kiev has reduced corruption and put democracy and the rule of law in order. It will be years before Ukraine joins – if it ever comes to that.
‘Our war too’
Rutte also called the war between Ukraine and Russia the war of the Netherlands, he said in June. “That war there is ours. Let’s agree on that,” he said at his press conference at the time.
“If this goes wrong and we allow Putin to occupy Ukraine, what’s next? Basically, that’s a direct threat to our security.” Rutte then acknowledged that there are consequences for citizens, with rising energy prices. “These consequences also affect our wallets. But we have to do that for our safety and our freedom.”
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A whole series of European heads of government have already visited Kiev in recent weeks. For example, Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez and Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen were already in Kiev at the end of April. In June, French President Macron, German Chancellor Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Draghi jointly visited Zelensky.
Minister Hoekstra of Foreign Affairs visited Ukraine in May.
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