Netherlands made no "concrete commitments" to Ukraine at London summit

The Netherlands did not make any concrete commitments during the summit in London on Sunday, Prime Minister Dick Schoof said afterward. “I did not mention any concrete amounts, I did not make any concrete commitments.”

The summit aimed to strengthen Ukraine’s position and to put further economic and military pressure on Russia. There was also talk about strengthening European defense. According to NATO chief Mark Rutte, several countries announced additional investments in defense during the summit.

Schoof called it “inevitable” that the Netherlands will also discuss this in the Cabinet and parliament in the coming period. “But the real decision-making will take place at the NATO summit,” said the Prime Minister. This summit will take place at the end of June.

It is especially important that all NATO member states first meet the standard of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense, Schoof said. “That is the first step. Ensuring that all countries are at 2 percent, then you will free up a lot of money for European defense. Then enter into the discussion with each other based on what we need.”

The London summit was not about making concrete commitments, the Prime Minister said. “The nature of the meeting was to make it very clear in the first place that we will continue to provide undiminished support to Ukraine.”

Furthermore, there was talk about security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement. “There is a lot of pressure to come up with results quickly.” Dutch military planners will soon join the group that is investigating what guarantees are needed in Ukraine. His British counterpart, Keir Starmer, spoke of the formation of a “coalition of the willing.”

"Agreements have been made", said Schoof. "For example, that the military planners will meet to see what the security guarantees would be. We have also said to each other that it is good that the UK and France will tackle this together. And other countries that can join in should do so as soon as possible." One of those countries is the Netherlands. "We are talking about days and weeks because there is really a lot of pressure."

According to him, the relationship with the United States remains “crucial.” Even if a European force is in Ukraine, America must be prepared to help in an emergency, said Schoof. “That is essential because without America, there will be absolutely nothing.”

The relationship with Washington has been under pressure since President Donald Trump took office. He wants an end to the war in Ukraine and is primarily talking to Russia about this, to the displeasure of Ukraine and the EU. A meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine got completely out of hand, increasing the urgency of the summit.

Trump wants Europe to take more care of itself when it comes to security. He also expects Europe to offer Ukraine the security guarantees the country is asking for. He does not seem prepared to help with that. The European leaders hope to come up with a plan that the U.S. can agree to, including commitments from America that it will help “if things get completely out of hand,” Schoof said.

The leaders of over ten European countries attended the summit. Turkey and Canada were also present, as were NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and President of the European Council António Costa.