Ukraine promised third Patriot missile system by Netherlands

The Netherlands has announced plans to send a Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine — the war-hit country's third overall — to boost Ukrainian forces in the conflict with Russia.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday that his country planned to join the United States and Germany in arming and training Ukrainian forces with Patriot missile systems.

Rutte signaled the Netherlands' intention at the start of a White House meeting with President Joe Biden. The Dutch Defense Ministry said that Rutte’s announcement came after Ukraine asked the Netherlands to provide "Patriot capacity."

"We have the intention to join what you are doing with Germany on the Patriot project," Rutte told Biden. "I think that it's important we join that."

Prior to the Netherlands' move, the United States and Germany had announced their plans to send Kiev one missile battery each, as well as train the Ukrainian forces to operate them.

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The US military began the Patriot training course for Ukrainian forces at Oklahoma's Fort Sill military base, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said on Tuesday.

"Training has begun," Ryder said during a press briefing, when asked about the training. "Those troops have arrived at Fort Sill and have begun their training."

Approximately 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers will be trained over the next several months on how to operate and maintain the missile system, Ryder said.

The US military also began training Ukrainian soldiers in Germany, giving both field and classroom instructions.

Also on Tuesday, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said during a visit to Washington that the West needed to increase the military and economic support to the Ukrainian forces fighting Russia to avoid a stalemate in the war.

"We have started to see a slowing, an ossification, of the line of contact," Cleverly told reporters. "Now is the right time to intensify our support for Ukraine."

"We can't allow this to drag on and become a kind of First World War attritional-type stalemate," he said.

The UK announced over the weekend that it would send a squadron of 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine.

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It also said it would provide more heavy artillery and ammunition to help Ukrainian forces fight the Russians.

Russia launched what it calls "a special military operation" against Ukraine in late February over the perceived threat of the country joining NATO.

Since then, the US and Ukraine's other allies have sent Kiev tens of billions of dollars' worth of weapons, including rocket systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, and communication systems. Western countries have also imposed a slew of economic sanctions on Moscow.

Russia has warned the West against the ongoing military and economic support for Ukraine, claiming that none of that assistance would help Kiev stop Moscow from achieving its objectives.

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