According to Bloomberg News on July 7th, the Netherlands Defense Minister, Djani Jehielgez-Zechrius, said the country can no longer provide direct military assistance to Ukraine.
Netherlands Defense Minister Djani Jehielgez-Zechrius
Bloomberg reports that Djani Jehielgez-Zechrius, speaking at the NATO summit, said the Netherlands has done all it can. She called on other countries to continue supporting Ukraine, adding, “For the Netherlands, we have no more capacity left because we have already done a lot.”
When asked specifically about Ukraine’s latest request for Patriot missile systems, she stated bluntly, “We’ve reached our limit.”
The NATO summit is taking place in Ankara, Turkey, from July 7th to 8th. On July 6th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that due to a shortage of Western air defense missiles, Ukraine’s performance in intercepting Russian ballistic missiles has been poor. Ukraine is hoping that the U.S. and European partners will make “strong decisions” on air defense support during the summit. “As long as Patriot missiles remain sitting in allies’ warehouses, Russia will continue to attack residential buildings in Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe have enough power to stop such attacks,” he said.
