On Friday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited Kyiv for the second time since the full-scale Russian invasion.

The Netherlands has the informal "status" of a Euroskepticist. They often block decisions on the EU enlargement process and are cautious in security matters.

However, this country has drastically changed its attitude towards Ukraine. Rutte briefly told EuroPravda reporter Ivanna Kostina (Ukr) about Ukraine's EU future and military assistance for Ukraine before leaving Kyiv.

Brief interview with Mark Rutte:

- Crimea is Ukraine. This is confirmed by the EU and the Netherlands in particular. Will you resist if the Ukrainian army begins to liberate Crimea?

- I am not going to tell Volodymyr Zelenskyy what to do. We want Ukraine to win this war. But it should decide itself what tactics to choose - where to start, what to do exactly.

We cannot decide this for Ukraine. You must win. We want to help you. That is why we are already helping by providing significant military assistance.

- They say in private conversations in the USA that the military liberation of Crimea is a red line for Vladimir Putin. He has nuclear weapons, which he likes to threaten with.

- I think Russia understands: if they use nuclear weapons, the USA will strike back and this response will be much more powerful. The USA is so much stronger than Russia that it simply cannot take this risk.

- How do you assess Ukraine's progress toward EU membership now? Is it possible to start accession negotiations this year?

- I have the impression that Ukraine is making incredible progress in membership negotiations. The European Commission's job is to assess where Ukraine is right now officially. So we in the Netherlands will wait for the EC report and take a position based on this report.

Although it is obvious, I see and hear from Zelenskyy about what you are doing to build an effective state administration and install all the necessary systems. This is impressive. But is this enough? The European Commission should evaluate this.

- Is there an understanding in the Netherlands that one day Ukraine will join the EU?

- Yes, we have already taken a step that proves it by deciding that you deserve EU candidacy.

- Ukraine has officially requested fighter jets from the Netherlands. We heard that this issue was not a priority at the Ramstein meeting. What is the position of the Dutch government? Will you continue considering Ukraine's request?

- Yes, we are considering it. I talked about this with Zelenskyy during my visit to Kyiv to understand why F-16s are so important to you. I understand your reasoning, but starting to deliver F-16 fighters is still a big step.

We must not allow a direct conflict between NATO and Russia. So we must proceed carefully. Just as it was when we first started sending Panzerhaubitze 2000 to Ukraine, then Leopard 2 followed.

Besides, we are not alone here. We have to do it in a coalition.

- The Netherlands has decided not to hand over the tanks you lease from Germany to Ukraine. Is this your final decision?

- The fact is that we do not own these tanks. We rent them from Germany. We said that we would buy them for Ukraine. Then we discussed it with the Germans, who answered: "You rent these tanks from us for the implementation of the mission of the Extended Forward Presence of NATO in Lithuania and other operations on the territory of NATO. It is better that we supply Ukraine with our Leopard tanks 2." We said, "Anything, as long as it works."

- When will the announced Patriot system arrive in Ukraine?

- This will happen in at least two months and will be done together with the USA and Germany.

- Can you imagine relations with Russia after the war?

- It isn't easy. It's difficult at the moment. If the war ends in a positive sense, Ukraine will win and a peace treaty will be signed. Let's dream for a moment, Russia will show a desire to take part in the reconstruction of Ukraine - then, of course, we will need to reevaluate our relations with it.

Russia will not disappear anywhere. It will always be the largest country in the world. It will always remain on the map... No matter what we think. It is there. We will have to build our attitude towards it somehow.