US rejects delivery of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine

News overview: Coca-Cola and Starbucks are also withdrawing from Russia and US rejects Polish plane plan

These are the main developments from Tuesday evening and the night from Tuesday to Wednesday:

• The US Department of Defense sees nothing Poland’s proposal to make its MiG-29 aircraft available to Ukraine via the US, Reuters news agency reported. Poland wants to give Ukraine more combat power in the air and Ukrainian pilots can handle the fighters well, but according to the Pentagon the plan is “unfeasible” because it would create “serious concerns” for NATO as a whole.
• Also Coca Cola and Starbucks temporarily suspended all their activities in Russia. “Our hearts are with those who are suffering the unscrupulous consequences of these tragic events in Ukraine,” Coca-Cola said in a statement. Earlier on Tuesday, McDonald’s, Adidas and Unilever announced their withdrawal from Russia.
• The fuel prices at gas stations continued to rise due to the war in Ukraine. According to consumer collective UnitedConsumers, the average recommended retail price for a liter of diesel will increase by almost 11 cents to 2.28 euros on Wednesday. The price for Euro-95 also rises by more than 3 cents to 2.49.

US rejects delivery of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine

The US Department of Defense sees little point in Poland’s proposal to make its MiG-29 aircraft available to Ukraine via the US, reports Reuters news agency† Ukrainian pilots get on well with the Russian-produced fighter jets, but the Pentagon said the plan whereby Poland would get US F16s in return is “unfeasible”.

Russia would view the delivery of the warplanes as a hostile act and NATO has previously indicated that it does not want to become directly or indirectly involved in fighting against Russia in Ukraine. Poland wants to give its neighboring country combat power in the air. Ukraine’s President Zelensky has also been calling for the delivery of fighter jets for days after NATO refused to respond to his call for a no-fly zone.

The planes are supposed to take off from the American army base Ramstein in Germany. That would raise serious concerns for the entire NATO alliance, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, as the planes would “fly into airspace over Ukraine that is being disputed with Russia.”

The Netherlands exported 6.6 billion euros worth of goods to Russia in 2021

In 2021, the Netherlands exported 6.6 billion euros worth of goods to Russia. This is evident from figures published on Wednesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The amount consists of 4.1 billion euros in goods of Dutch origin, such as tractors for trailers and flowers. The remaining 2.5 billion euros comes from the re-export of goods of foreign origin, such as electronic circuits, telephones and medicines. These exports are currently virtually curbed by the Western sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine.

From Russia, a total of 18.4 billion euros worth of goods were imported by the Netherlands. This makes the Netherlands the sixth largest buyer of Russian goods. About 87 percent of the imported value consisted of mineral fuels such as oil and gas. Its import value is strongly influenced by the global oil and gas price.

Imports from Ukraine have risen sharply this century

Since the beginning of this century, Dutch imports from Ukraine have increased twelvefold. In 2002, 177 million euros worth of goods were imported, in 2021 that was more than 2 billion euros. In 2021, Dutch companies mainly imported vegetable fine oils, such as sunflower oil, and maize from Ukraine.

Exports have also grown considerably in twenty years. In 2021, the Netherlands exported 1.2 billion euros worth of goods to Ukraine, 851 million euros more than at the beginning of this century. 0.2 percent of all Dutch export goods is destined for Ukraine. A wide range of products are shipped from the Netherlands to Ukraine, the most important of which are medicines, flowers and plants, cocoa, computers and mobile telephones, according to Statistics Netherlands.