Meanwhile, the evidence for war crimes is piling up. Moscow continues to deny. It makes Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) furious: “When it comes to the truth, the Russians live in a parallel universe.”
NATO expects the Russian aggressor to need ‘several weeks’ to launch a new offensive in eastern Ukraine. That is why Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba comes to his colleagues at NATO headquarters with only three points: “Weapons, weapons and weapons.”
Afterwards, NATO boss Jens Stoltenberg announces more support. The CEO does not give details. The Netherlands remains prepared to supply weapons. “I can’t talk specifically about what we deliver, because then we make the Russian army wiser than they need to be,” explains Minister Hoekstra.
Training Ukrainian soldiers
The supply of weapons does come up against practical limits. Ukraine uses a lot of Russian stuff, the stock in NATO countries is not inexhaustible. Member states of the alliance are therefore thinking about training Ukrainian soldiers to ensure that they will soon be able to work with ‘our’ weapon systems. The Netherlands is looking at this ‘with an open mind’.
The handing out of sanctions also has a limit: options for new sanctions are running out. Moreover, the consequences for Europe itself are becoming increasingly painful and that is causing division. EU member states agreed on a fifth sanctions package on Thursday evening, but the ban on coal imports announced by Brussels has been watered down with a compromise: there will be a four-month phase-out for existing contracts. Countries disagree about an embargo on Russian oil and natural gas.
As the West talks, more and more information is emerging from the real battlefield about the extent of the horrors. According to the mayor of Butsha, 320 bodies have now been found in the town. Reports of war crimes are also coming from other places.
Reason enough for Hoekstra to call on the Russian ambassador for the fourth time in a short period of time. “It was essential for us to make it clear once again that the images we have seen of Butsha are completely criminal and that the international community will not accept this.”