Rutte: ‘War in Ukraine is also our war, we have to agree on that’ | Inland

Rutte was asked whether we are not slowly but surely getting more and more involved in a war that is not necessarily our own. “That war there is ours. Let’s agree on that,” said Rutte.

He pointed out that we are “doing everything we can” to ensure that “Ukraine can win.” According to Rutte, the ‘red line’ is that NATO will not come into direct conflict with Russia. “But otherwise we are doing everything we can with financial support, military support but also with very heavy weapon systems. The Netherlands is reasonably ahead in this regard. That was also confirmed again this week,” said the prime minister.

He pointed out that the Netherlands is sending Armored Howitzers to Ukraine together with the Germans. “There are not many heavier systems. We do that because this is our war. If this goes wrong and we allow Putin to occupy Ukraine, what’s next? In fact, that is a direct threat to our security,” says Rutte. He stated that it is important that we are prepared “to bear the consequences. Those consequences also affect our wallets. But we must do that for our safety and our freedom.”

Later during the press conference, Rutte partly went back on his words. “It is not formal that we are at war with Russia, we are not. But it’s practically our war too. Ukraine must win, that is really important. In any case, we must ensure that we do everything we can to bring them closer to that victory,” said the prime minister.

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