Zelensky Arrives in the Netherlands to Speak at The Hague, Dutch Media Reports

AMSTERDAM – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly traveled to the Netherlands on Wednesday and is scheduled to speak in The Hague on Thursday, according to Dutch cable service ANP.

Mr Zelensky made the trip after spending much of Wednesday denying his country’s Russian claims of responsibility for the early morning drone strike on the Kremlin, saying Ukraine was focused on fighting on its own soil. “We are defending our villages and our cities,” he said, while visiting Nordic leaders in Helsinki, Finland.

In the Netherlands, Mr. Zelensky is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and visit the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which issued arrest warrants for President Vladimir V. Putin and Russian officials for war crimes in March.

The visit, which was not announced until hours before his arrival, was Mr Zelensky’s first direct visit to the Netherlands as Ukraine’s leader. Zelensky addressed the Dutch House of Representatives on video in March 2022, when he asked lawmakers to stop doing business with Russia and send more ammunition.

Mr Zelensky has made several trips abroad since the Russian invasion began, including a tour of Britain, France and Belgium in February and a trip to Washington in December 2022. Earlier on Wednesday, he met Nordic leaders in Finland, and he is scheduled to take an official state visit to Germany on May 13, according to the Berlin police department.

Mr. Zelensky is expected to make a speech titled “No Peace Without Justice for Ukraine” in The Hague on Thursday, according to ANP.

The president of Ukraine has long urged that the president of Russia, Vladimir V. Putin, and officials who aided the war in Ukraine should be held accountable under international law. He and other Ukrainian officials have proposed that European leaders create a special court for that purpose, which could work alongside the International Criminal Court but go through a long and burdensome prosecution process.

Mr Zelensky referred to the court on Wednesday, as he rejected accusations that Russia, which staged the explosion in the Kremlin in an attempt to assassinate Mr Putin.

“We are not attacking Putin,” he said. And about the fate of the Russian leader, he said, “We leave it to the courts.”

Johanna Lemola contributed reports from Helsinki, Finland.