Russia-Ukraine war: Netherlands maintains support of tank deliveries to Ukraine

The Dutch government has reiterated its support of sending battle tanks to Ukraine. This follows a report that claimed that the Netherlands and Denmark have withdrawn their support for sending tanks to Kyiv.

The Dutch defense ministry reiterated the Netherlands’ support for sending German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. This follows a report by the German newspaper Die Welt saying that the Dutch and Danish governments have decided to walk back their decision to support sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. The Netherlands does not own any tanks but leases 18 from Germany.

“The Netherlands doesn’t own tanks,” spokeswoman Sacha Louwhoff told Reuters. “With Germany, it was decided that tanks from another battalion would be better suited to deliver to Ukraine. If Germany would have decided to send tanks from our bi-national battalion we would not have opposed this. Nor will we oppose if they decide to send them at a later moment.”

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also responded to the Die Welt report, calling on countries to send tanks to Ukraine. Borrell told the German broadcaster Phoenix that countries must deliver as many tanks as soon as possible.

“It would be very disappointing if, after so long of pointing the finger at Germany for not doing anything, these countries don’t follow suit,” said Borrell. “I know there are hundreds of tanks in the EU armies, some of them need to be refurbished, but then you have to do it, and do it quickly because in the spring it will be too late.”

Earlier this month, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark said that they are purchasing at least 100 Leopard-1A5 tanks for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials in Kyiv are now looking to obtain modern fighter jets to better deter Russian attacks after obtaining pledges of modern battle tanks. On Thursday, the UK said Russia’s air power has been underperforming in the war that is nearing its first year, due to the high threat of Ukraine’s air defenses along with “dispersed basing” because of the threat of strikes on Russian air bases.

The British defense ministry said Russian fighter jets operate solely over Russian-held territory which prevents them from carrying out their key roles.