Dutch PM Suggests Buying Patriot Systems from Allies to Send to Ukraine

During the two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels, Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister and lead candidate to take over as secretary general of NATO later this year, stressed the urgency of providing Ukraine with surface-to-air missiles.

“We know that many countries are sitting on large piles of patriot systems, maybe not wanting to deliver it directly. We can buy it from them, we can deliver it to Ukraine, we have the money available. It’s crucial,” said Rutte.

Two days ago, the Netherlands pledged in its budget €4 billion in military aid over the next two years to Ukraine and has already promised a number of Patriot systems, though Rutte would not confirm how many.

When asked about President Volodymyr Zelnskyy’s statement regarding Israel’s allies immediately taking action to defend it, regardless of Israel not being a member of NATO, Rutte answered: “Ukraine needs all the air defense we can get for them and needs all the shell capacity… We need to make it happen.”

During the first day of the summit, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined the European Council meeting, via teleconference, to remind everyone of Ukraine’s dire need for air defense systems to protect its civilians and energy infrastructure.