Prime Minister of the Netherlands: preparations to supply F-16s to Ukraine are at a high speed

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, has spoken about the readiness of Western countries to provide Ukraine with new types of weapons to help it win the war against Russia.

"There will always be discussions about whether to transfer the next weapons system to Ukraine. But the general mood in the West is that we should be prepared to do so in the future," Rutte told DW on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday 17 February.

"We have to invest in defence spending, significantly increase arms production and do much more to support Ukraine," the Dutch prime minister added.

Rutte noted that this sentiment is not related to the possible election of Donald Trump as US president and the possible freezing of US aid to Kyiv.

"This is due to the fact that we must ensure our security and protect our values by defending Ukraine and reaching the maximum potential of our defence capabilities," Mark Rutte said.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands reminded that his country, together with Denmark, the United Kingdom and other coalition countries, intends to provide Ukraine with 24 F-16 fighter jets.

"This is a huge progress," he said. The training of Ukrainian pilots and preparation of the combat aircraft for delivery is proceeding "at a high speed," Rutte assured.

However, he refused to name the exact date of delivery.

Background. At the end of December, Rutte confirmed that the Netherlands was preparing 18 F-16 aircraft for shipment to Ukraine. However, he noted that the export permits from the United States must first be finalised.