Minister of Defense of the Netherlands visits drone production facility in Ukraine

During his first working visit to Ukraine, the new Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans and his delegation visited a drone manufacturing company. Foreign politicians also held talks with representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

This was reported by the press service on the Defense Ministry's website. Brekelmans, who met in Kyiv with Deputy Minister of Defense for European Integration Oleksandr Balanutsa and other employees of the Ministry, confirmed the unwavering support of his country.

"When you say thank you for your help, we thank you five times more. You are defending not only your country but freedom and democracy in the world. We will support Ukraine as long as it takes," Brekelmans said.

Particular attention was paid to technology as one of the ways of support that can be expanded.

"Military technologies are developing because Ukrainians test them on the battlefield and pay for it with their blood and lives. We invite you to take an active part in the development of Ukrainian enterprises. We need to be more active. While we are negotiating in the political arena, the number of flags on Ukrainian cemeteries is increasing," said Deputy Defense Minister Balanutsa.

Afterwards, the Ukrainian and Dutch delegations, with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of both countries Dmytro Kuleba and Kaspar Veldkamp, laid flowers and paid tribute to the fallen Ukrainian Heroes at the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen Defenders.

The parties also discussed the importance of the procurement reform of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The initiative aims to make the process more transparent and in line with NATO practices. Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klymenkov told the foreign politicians about this.

He also invited them to invest in the strategic initiative to develop Ukraine's defense industry: "Today, domestic companies account for 70% of all procurement by the Ministry of Defense. Ukrainian arms companies demonstrate significant potential and readiness to meet the needs of the defense sector. We invite you to cooperate and invest to build reliable and innovative defense for our countries together."

Deputy Minister of Defense Kateryna Chornohorenko shared the achievements with the Reserve+ app and plans for the future Army+ app for the military. The latter is expected to become available by the end of the summer.

"Digital products are replacing old established processes because it is a requirement of the times, not just convenience," said Chornohorenko.

The Ukrainian delegation thanked the Netherlands for its leadership, especially for its participation in the Air Force Coalition. They discussed the urgent need to protect Ukrainian cities from enemy missiles and drones." An agreement was reached on the need to strengthen cooperation in this area," the press service said.

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