# Netherlands sets out €1.2bn non-military aid for Ukraine

> Visiting prime minister Jetten at the Catshuis, Ukraine's president said lasting peace is impossible without a big European role, while the Netherlands set out how earlier pledges will be spent: €1.2bn in non-military support over three years and a previously reserved €500m for a military winter package.

Politics · published 2026-10-29 18:21 · https://nlnow.nl/a/zelensky-wants-europe-at-peace-talks-as-dutch-add-ukraine-aid/

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that lasting peace with Russia is impossible without a "big role for Europe" in peace negotiations. He spoke during a visit to prime minister Jetten at the Catshuis, the prime minister's official residence in The Hague.

He was responding to Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, who said earlier that day that Europeans will have no place at the next talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi in November. "They can of course fly there if they buy tickets. But nobody plans to invite them to the negotiating table," Ushakov said.

Zelensky said the Abu Dhabi round may take place "between 6 and 10 November" and that "it has been accepted that this will be a trilateral meeting". He stressed this is an American wish as well as a Russian one. "If the Americans say: no, we want this to be trilateral, then we will not blow up this possibility," he said.

He hopes there will be room on the sidelines for talks with security advisers of European countries. "When we talk about security guarantees for Ukraine, I don't think that can happen without you. The same goes for reconstruction," he said.

Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma (Foreign Trade) announced the €1.2bn from Kyiv. It makes earlier pledges concrete and can pay, for example, for repairing energy installations that Russia keeps hitting with missiles. Zelensky said humanitarian help has become a priority too, "from energy and medical supplies to shelter".

At the Catshuis, Jetten announced a further €500m, also reserved earlier, for a "military winter support package" that Ukraine can use to buy air defence and drones. He said Russian attacks on civilian targets and critical infrastructure show that Russia's strategy is "nothing other than deliberately sowing death and destruction" to break Ukrainian morale. Allies, he said, must not waver in their support.

On Wednesday evening King Willem-Alexander also received Zelensky at Paleis Huis ten Bosch.

## Background

- **Catshuis**: The prime minister's official residence in The Hague. It is used mainly for meetings and receptions, such as talks between the cabinet, employers and unions.

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