Netherlands to procure $164 million in F-16 munitions for Ukraine
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The Netherlands will procure 150 million euros ($164 million) worth of munitions for Ukraine’s F-16 jets, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced on March 20.
The Netherlands and Denmark are leading the fighter jet coalition for Ukraine and have pledged to deliver 24 F-16 jets to Ukraine.
Ollongren said the jet munitions will come "directly from the industry."
Together with partner countries, the Netherlands also secured a contract for new intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) drones for about 200 million euros ($218 million), Ollongren said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ollongren came to Ukraine on an official visit on March 20, and met with him in Kyiv.
Zelensky said that they discussed "bolstering Ukraine's air defense, providing artillery, armored vehicles and UAVs, in particular in the framework of joint projects."
The Dutch delegation also visited the city of Dnipro, which provided "an opportunity to see the devastating consequences of Russian aerial terror with their own eyes," Zelensky said.
Zelensky expressed gratitude for the Netherlands' support and for the bilateral security agreement recently signed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte traveled to Kharkiv on March 1 to sign the agreement.
Rutte told journalists on Feb. 26 that the Netherlands will also provide 100 million euros ($108.5 million) in aid to support Czechia's plan to procure hundreds of thousands of ammunition rounds for Ukraine from outside the EU.
