Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday evening. According to insiders from the ANP news agency, he will speak with Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) and Deputy Prime Minister Sigrid Kaag (Finance, D66) during a visit to The Hague, and he will give a speech entitled ‘No peace without justice in Ukraine’. It will be the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine that Zelensky is physically present in the Netherlands. In March last year he was digitally present when he requested the House of Representatives by video link to continue to support Ukraine.
Zelenksy was supposed to visit Germany in the weekend of May 13 and 14, but Kyiv seems to have put a line through that. For security reasons, this exceptional visit was supposed to remain secret, but on Wednesday it was already announced in the German media that Zelensky would go to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Berlin police would also have confirmed that preparations for the visit were in full swing. Insiders have told international news agencies that Kyiv is angered by the “irresponsible” early confirmation of the visit.
Revenge attacks
On Wednesday morning, the war president was still in Finland for an unannounced meeting with the Prime Ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland and the President of Finland. Last week, Zelensky thanked the Northern European countries for their support, and stressed — as he has done in recent months — the importance of supplying fighter jets. Currently, only Poland and Slovakia supply them.
Zelensky visits the Netherlands while Ukraine faces Russian revenge attacks over an alleged drone attack on the Kremlin, for which Moscow holds Kyiv responsible. Airstrikes killed more than 20 people in the Kherson region on Wednesday. At a press conference in the Finnish capital Helsinki, the Ukrainian president resolutely dismissed the Russian accusation. “We are not attacking Putin or Moscow, we are fighting on our own soil,” he said.
Since the start of the war, Dutch government leaders have been seen in Ukraine to underline the good mutual relations. For example, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has paid two visits to Kyiv in the past fourteen months; first with Deputy Prime Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs, CDA), then with Minister Liesje Schreinemacher (Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, VVD). US President Joe Biden and his colleagues Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron have also visited Ukraine since the Russian invasion on February 24.
Also read this interview with Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Borisovich Yermak: “Russia doesn’t stand a chance, Ukraine can fight and is not afraid”