PRESS RELEASE : Volodymyr Zelenskyy: There are many new pages of success in the partnership between Ukraine and the Netherlands

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 2 February 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Mark Rutte discussed in detail concrete steps to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine’s borders and achieve a peaceful settlement. This was announced by the President of Ukraine during a conversation with media representatives following the talks in Kyiv.

The President welcomed Mark Rutte to the Ukrainian capital and noted that this was the first visit of the Dutch Prime Minister to our country in the last 17 years. And it is happening at a time when Ukraine especially needs the support and solidarity of all friends and allies.

“We spent most of our time today on the issue of security in Ukraine and security on our borders, which affects the economy of our country. We also discussed possible sanctions from the European Union and the Netherlands in case of escalation,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The President expressed gratitude to the Netherlands and personally to Mark Rutte for supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for the readiness to cooperate in order to deoccupy Crimea.

“The Netherlands is our important partner within the EU and the Alliance, one of the key trading partners in Europe and the second largest investor in the Ukrainian economy. So it is not surprising that our bilateral agenda is as rich and meaningful as possible. This is evidenced by the Joint Statement adopted as a result of our talks,” the President of Ukraine stressed.

According to him, during the meeting they discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation on European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

“We are also interested in developing trade, economic and investment cooperation. Our trade turnover has crossed the $ 2.5 billion mark, but we strive to do much more and we are able to do more. I invited large Dutch companies to discover Ukraine and create new success stories in the promising areas. These are alternative energy, river transport, water resources management, waste management, agriculture, irrigation and reclamation, and more,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The Head of State also said that he would continue talks with Mark Rutte to investigate the downing of Flight MH17.

“We will discuss all the details. The European Court of Human Rights has recently started hearing the relevant case, and our states will continue to work closely in this direction, in particular within the Joint Investigation Team to investigate this tragedy,” the President said.

“I am convinced that there are many new pages of success ahead in the partnership between Ukraine and the Netherlands. And these talks have clearly shown that we are determined to open them jointly for the benefit of our states and peoples,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy summed up.

For his part, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands stressed that today every effort should be made to de-escalate the situation near Ukraine’s borders, including through diplomacy.

“The only solution for the de-escalation is diplomacy, a dialogue that must continue between Russia and the United States, between Russia and NATO, and, of course, between the countries of the Normandy format – Ukraine, Germany and France,” said Mark Rutte.

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands thanked the President of Ukraine for his cooperation in investigating the downing of MH17.