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Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten has ruled out restarting supplies of Russian gas to Europe, calling the idea "a very stupid idea" and saying no European leader is willing to buy Russian gas in the coming years.
Jetten made the remarks at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in The Hague, where he called for Europe to present a united front and step up sanctions against Russia to force President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
"The way forward for Europeans, but also for Americans and others, is to put more sanctions on the Russian regime, not less. So buying Russian energy is a very stupid idea. I can assure you that there is no European leader who is willing to buy Russian gas in the next few years," Jetten said. "What we want is for Russia to stop this war, and as long as they don't we will hit them hard in their pockets with sanctions."
His remarks came after reports that Donald Trump's peace envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had raised the idea of restarting Russian gas supplies to Europe during talks with Zelenskyy at the weekend. Jetten said economic pressure was needed to persuade Putin to give ground. "It is clear that we need to push Putin to take the negotiations seriously," he said.
His remarks came as Polish President Donald Tusk said the United States, Ukraine and Russia had provisionally agreed to hold ceasefire talks in Abu Dhabi on November 4. European leaders will not be present, though Tusk said Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre had held a call with Putin after consulting Zelenskyy and the American side.
Zelenskyy told reporters in The Hague that it was "very important" for Europe to show unity "because Russia is focusing on how to divide us." Jetten also announced additional assistance for Ukraine, including 500 million euros in military winter support, covering air defence and drones, according to the press conference coverage.