Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed to speed up the process of delivering Western F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
"Regarding the F-16: we are on schedule. This means that later this year they will be in Ukrainian skies," he said at a press conference with Zelenskyy in Kharkiv.
At the same time, Rutte said, "there is still a lot to be done, and one of the things we agreed on today is to speed up the process in the sense that we need to make sure that there are no obstacles that could cause delays."
"We discussed the possibilities of how to speed up this process. So we will ask our ministries of defence to work on this together with our partners, such as Norway, Belgium and other countries that are part of the F-16 coalition. Because Ukraine needs this air superiority as quickly as possible," he said.
"Today, there is a new military support package for our soldiers from the Netherlands. By the way, the Netherlands is actively helping us with air defence, with the F-16 coalition. This year, new fighters will be in our skies, and this year we must make it an effective one in defending ourselves against Russian guided bombs, Russian aircraft, and their missiles," Zelenskyy said.
Background. As reported, the leaders of both countries signed a document that provides €2 billion in military aid to Ukraine in 2024, as well as further military assistance over the next 10 years.