Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte also has a chat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO summit. They will meet on Wednesday at the summit in Vilnius, the president tweeted.
Zelensky joined the two-day summit on Tuesday evening, even though he threatened to stay away for a while. He was dissatisfied that NATO is not yet explicitly inviting Ukraine to join, as the country fervently wishes. That, he said, was “absurd” and “weak”.
Rutte called Zelensky’s sharp tone “not helpful”, but also spoke soothing words. He believes that Ukraine can still be satisfied. For example, because it will soon also be able to count on security guarantees from NATO countries as long as it is not yet part of the alliance. The Netherlands is considering commitments about F-16s and Patriot anti-aircraft guns. Rutte may discuss that with Zelensky on Wednesday.
Presidents and Prime Ministers
The Ukrainian president encouraged Rutte last weekend after the fall of the cabinet. The two spoke very regularly over the past year and a half, during which the Netherlands emerged as an advocate of more support for Ukraine.
Zelensky will also speak separately at the summit with, among others, the US president, the German chancellor and the prime ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.