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Kherson has been occupied by Russia since March 2, but Ukraine is trying to recapture the city. “Ultimately, you also want to provide expertise in things you are good at,” says Rutte. “The Netherlands is good at port development, at agriculture and at everything that has to do with water. We can offer that expertise throughout Ukraine. And those things come together very nicely around Kherson.”
‘Random shot’
On an unannounced visit to Kiev, Prime Minister Mark Rutte also promised the Ukrainian government to send more heavy weapons.
In Butsha – a suburb of Kiev – Rutte talked to a pastor on Monday morning. “This is where the images came from of people who were shot randomly on the street,” Rutte said from Kiev on Monday evening. “The pastor I spoke to knew them. He was the shepherd of those people. He tries to bring the community back together, while corpses are all buried around his church. Really awful.”
The fact that Prime Minister Rutte sounds emotional may also be due to the severe cold that he has been walking around with for a few days. He tests himself regularly, he says: it is not corona. “Everyone gets a cold from time to time, I’ll survive it.” The images of the houses, churches and school buildings destroyed by Russia touch him. “This is very impressive.”
Rutte spoke with his Ukrainian colleague Zelenski . during his visit
Ⓒ REUTERS
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‘Timing very well’
It is the first time since the Russian invasion – at the end of February – that Rutte is visiting Ukraine. Monday morning he arrived by train from Poland, to start the return journey to the Netherlands in the evening. His arrival is quite ‘late’: most European heads of government – including the Prime Minister of Luxembourg – have already been to Kiev.
“That goes the way it does,” says Rutte. “I have a lot of contact with President Volodomir Zelensky, I call him regularly. Minister Hoekstra has also already been here. I myself was in Kiev shortly before the raid. I think the timing is very good now: we were able to discuss a lot of things that are important in the phase the war is now in.”
Rutte is referring to the enormous need Zelenski has for more heavy weaponry. “I said we want to help him with that. We’ll run out of stock once in a while, but then we can always act as an intermediary for other countries. We are also encouraging other countries – which are not doing much yet – to do more. I’m not naming names.”
Support the Dutch
Rutte also promises to help rebuild Ukraine. The Netherlands may therefore want to ‘adopt’ the region around Kherson. That port city – north of the Crimea – is still occupied by the Russians. But Ukraine is on the rise in the area. “We do want it to be more than a symbol,” says Rutte. “We can offer our expertise throughout Ukraine, not just Kherson.”
Doesn’t the prime minister fear that support among the Dutch for Ukraine is crumbling, now that the prices for food and energy in their own country are skyrocketing? “No,” he says. “I think the vast majority of the Netherlands feels – not just in mind, but also in heart and stomach – that this is about something very fundamental. Simply: who are we? Our values. If Russia wins this war, it is a danger for the Netherlands.”
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