On July 11, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte arrived in Kyiv. His day in Ukraine began with a visit to the de-occupied cities: Bucha, Irpin. The prime minister shared his impressions at a press conference with president Zelenskyy.
"Putin's army left its terrible traces, ruin, death, and I am very shocked by what I saw today, although I could not even imagine what the scale of suffering was when the occupiers were there," Mark Rutte.
The prime minister said that in order to end the war, Ukraine needs more modern weapons, and his state is ready to provide these weapons.
"Of course, Ukraine needs our military support. We need to support Ukraine with a modern types of weapons. I want to say that I call on all my colleagues in Europe and in other parts of the world to help Ukraine with heavy weapons," Mark Rutte.
As part of our country's economic assistance and armament, the Netherlands will send heavy weapons, infantry fighting vehicles and a €200 loan to Ukraine to compensate for priority state needs.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Mark Rutte for productive dialogue and understanding of Ukraine's contribution to Europe's human rights and freedoms.
"Ukraine and the Netherlands equally understand the need to protect human rights and freedoms. And while Russia is trying to destroy all this, we must work for even stronger sanctions against Russian terrorism. I am grateful to Mark Rutte for our constructive negotiations, for the decision to provide our country with additional heavy weapons, for supporting our EU membership candidacy. Thank you! It is really very important for us," Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
