Situation in city is extremely saddening – Dutch PM on Russian strikes on Kharkiv
Mark Rutte, the Dutch Prime Minister, has said that he is very "saddened" by the fact that Russia is destroying the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Source: The Guardian quoted the Dutch leader's statement before the EU leaders' summit in Brussels, European Pravda reports
Details: Asked what he thought about the words of the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, that it risks becoming a "second Aleppo", Rutte said that the situation is "extremely saddening".
"I was in Kharkiv myself on 1 March. A rocket from Russia takes one minute to get there and .. the alarm systems take more time to go off than the time it takes for that particular rocket to reach Kharkiv," he said.
Rutte said he was impressed when he saw teachers conducting classes at metro stations and "how they try to run that system as normal as possible".
Background:
- Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that spending one night in Kharkiv would change the minds of Western partners about providing Ukraine with additional air defence systems.
- Kuleba is visiting Italy on 17-19 April to take part in a G7 ministerial meeting where, as reported by European Pravda, he will discuss the provision of additional Patriot batteries and other air defence systems to Ukraine to protect it from Russian terror.
- In a letter addressed to dozens of countries, Germany’s Foreign and Defence Ministers Annalena Baerbock and Boris Pistorius have announced a global initiative to find additional air defence equipment for Ukraine.
- The Financial Times reports that the Arab states of the Persian Gulf are among them.
Support UP or become our patron!
