On August 4, Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that the Netherlands will contribute 500 million euros ($578 million) to buy US military equipment, including patriot air defense systems for Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte - former Prime Minister of the Netherlands - welcomed the decision, and said he had also encouraged other members of the alliance to participate in the new mechanism, called the priority Requirements List Initiative of Ukraine (PURL).
The statement of the Dutch Defense Minister was also praised by the Ukrainian government.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky affirmed that not only Ukraine but all of Europe will be protected from external threats.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Netherlands for its significant contribution to the strengthening of Ukraine's air defense shields, Zelensky wrote on social network X.
On the same day, US NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker said that member states in Europe will soon make similar decisions to the Netherlands. "We are acting as quickly as possible," Whitaker said.
In an interview at NATO headquarters in Brussels ( Belgian), Ambassador Whitaker revealed that the time to transfer US weapons to Ukraine will "go very quickly, definitely in the coming weeks".
Thanks to this move, the Netherlands has become the first NATO country to participate in the initiative to increase US arms aid to Ukraine in European money proposed by President Donald Trump last month.
According to NATO, the plan will be coordinated by a US-led military alliance and funding from European members as well as Canada, with arms packages worth about $500 million each support period.
The alliance added that European Union Commander-in-Chief Alexus Grynkewich would be the one to approve packages corresponding to Ukraine's needs, including air defense systems, ammunition and other critical equipment.
