KYIV: The Netherlands is providing Ukraine with 350 million euros for F-16 fighter jet ammunition and advanced reconnaissance drones, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren announced in Kyiv on Wednesday.
Speaking to Reuters in an interview at the conclusion of a two-day trip to Ukraine, Ollongren said she had come to show solidarity and announce the new aid package.
At the Ramstein group meeting of Ukraine’s allies, Ollongren said 150 million euros will fund guided air-to-ground missiles that can be fired from F-16s, while 200 million will go to Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) drones, according to a Dutch defense ministry press release.
The Netherlands has pledged 2 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine in 2024. A significant share will fund ammunition and drones, which Kyiv has said are desperately needed to end battlefield losses against Russia.
Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States expect to deliver the first of dozens of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine this summer after establishing a pilot training program and donating aircraft.
In Kyiv, Ollongren said the Danish aircraft would arrive first, but they would be followed by the first Dutch planes later in 2024.
“I’m very confident that we will start delivering F-16s this summer... Denmark first, and we have a schedule ... so in the second half of the year the Dutch F-16s will be going this way.”
Asked about the pause in US military aid as Republicans in Congress block a crucial aid bill, Ollongren said that while Ukraine had many friends in Europe, continuing without US support would be difficult.
“That would not be easy, and I hope it is not the direction we are going in,” she said.
Ollongren said European production of ammunition would be scaled up “significantly” by the end of the year so that the artillery munition deficit faced currently by Ukraine would not be repeated.
“We have to be realistic, and consider the possibility that it might be a lengthy war, and it is better to plan for a long war,” she said.
Ollongren said the Dutch armed forces were learning lessons from the ramping up of drone warfare in Ukraine.
“This technology has developed more quickly than anybody would have anticipated two years ago, and we have to learn.”
Dutch drone technology companies Deltaquad, Avalor AI and AEC Skyline discussed cooperation with Ukrainian officials to increase Kyiv’s production capabilities. Several industrial contracts were signed with Ukraine, the Dutch Defense Ministry said.
During Ollongren’s visit to the eastern Dnipro region, Ukrainian military leaders repeated their calls for more air defense systems, spare parts and ammunition which is needed to halt advances by better-equipped Russian forces.
Dutch providing Ukraine with F-16 ammunition, drones, minister says
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Dutch providing Ukraine with F-16 ammunition, drones, minister says
- At the Ramstein group meeting of Ukraine’s allies, Ollongren said 150 million euros will fund guided air-to-ground missiles that can be fired from F-16s
- The Netherlands has pledged 2 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine in 2024
M23 police still present as armed group withdraws from DR Congo city
- Local and security sources reported that troops had moved toward the north of the city.
- Early Thursday, M23 police and plain-clothed agents were still seen in the streets and at strategic points
KINSHASA: M23 police and plain-clothed intelligence agents were still deployed Thursday in Uvira, local and security sources said, after the armed group announced it had begun withdrawing from the eastern DR Congo city.
After seizing the major cities of Goma and Bukavu early this year, fighters from the Rwanda-backed M23 group captured Uvira near the border with Burundi on December 10.
Its fall came days after the Congolese and Rwandan leaders signed a peace deal in Washington and the offensive drew sharp condemnation from the United States, which vowed “action” over the “clear violation” of the US-brokered accord.
The seizure of Uvira — a city of several hundred thousand people — allowed the anti-government M23 to control the land border with Burundi and cut the DRC off from military support from its neighbor.
On Wednesday, the M23 said it had begun pulling out from the city and called on “mediators and other partners to ensure Uvira is protected from violence, reprisals and remilitarization.”
Local and security sources reported that troops had moved toward the north of the city.
Early Thursday, M23 police and plain-clothed agents were still seen in the streets and at strategic points, according to local sources.
“At city hall, at the headquarters, at the police, in front of banks, where there were a large number of M23 elements, we woke up this morning and it’s police officers who are there,” a civil society representative told AFP on condition of anonymity.
An M23 official confirmed to AFP Thursday that “police and soldiers in plain clothes” were still in Uvira as well as “our intelligence services.”
Provincial authorities in South Kivu, where Uvira is located, said in a statement Thursday that M23 forces were nine kilometers (nearly six miles) from Uvira, with their artillery and “no intention whatsoever of returning.”
Contacted by AFP Thursday, the M23 declined to say how far its troops had withdrawn or their location.
“This withdrawal will only be valid if our services can fully verify by regaining control of the city,” Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya told AFP.
