Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte says his country intends to join the United States and Germany in their provision of the Patriot anti-missile air defense systems to Ukraine. The statement comes after a talk with US President Joe Biden, during the Dutch premieres' work trip to Washington.
"We have the intention to join what you are doing with Germany on the Patriot project, so the air defense system,” Mr. Rutte told Mr. Biden. “I think that it’s important we join that, and I discussed it also this morning with Olaf Scholz of Germany," he told journalists after the meeting, The New York Times reports.
Read more: Missile Attack on Ukraine, January 14th: russia Uses S-300/400 Rockets on Kyiv and Inconspicuous Kh-22 Missiles on Dnipro
Although it hasn't been announced officially yet, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has already thanked Rutte for the commitment. The defense minister of the Netherlands Kajsa Ollongren said the ministry is currently working on this commitment in detail. It is also consults with the US and German partners who have already decided to give their Patriot systems to bolster Ukraine's protection against russian missile and drone attacks.
According to the information provided by the Dutch defense ministry, the country has 4 Patriot systems, three of them are operational and the other one is in reserve. In 2022 this last one was put into operation as well. Before being deployed to Ukraine, this system may need to be prepared for use in the United States.
Both Dutch officials connected this new provision with the recent missile attack on Dnipro city of Ukraine that took away 45 lives of civilians and injured 28 after a russian missile hit a residential house.
Patriot is an anti-missile system that uses kinetic penetrator to intercept cruise and ballistic missiles and is one of the few air defense capabilities that Ukraine needs to take down missiles that use ballistic trajectory to hit the target, like the missile that hit the house in Dnipro.
Read more: Ukraine’s Military Has Already Arrived in the US to Learn How to Shoot Down Russian Kh-22 and Iskander Missiles
