Dutch to supply anti-tank, air defence rockets to Ukraine

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The Netherlands will supply air defence rockets and anti-tank systems to Ukraine, the Dutch government said in letters to parliament on Saturday.

The Dutch agreed to a Ukrainian request to rapidly ship 200 Stinger air defence rockets and 50 “Panzerfaust 3” anti-tank weapons with 400 rockets, the letters said.

The Netherlands is also jointly considering with Germany sending a Patriot air defence system to a NATO battle group in Slovakia, it said.

Based on requests from Ukraine “the Netherlands will provide 200 Stinger air defence rockets”, the letter said.

“Along with our allies, the Defence Ministry aims to deliver these goods as quickly as possible.”

The missiles are in addition to other equipment already promised by the Netherlands earlier this month, including rifles, ammunition, radar systems and mine-detecting robots.

Earlier on Saturday, the Netherlands said it was moving Dutch embassy staff from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to Jaroslaw, across the border in Poland, due to deteriorating security.

(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch; Editing by Catherine Evans and Alison Williams)