Zelenskiy signs security deal with Belgium during visit to Brussels
- 28 May, 10:03
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zeleskiy visited Brussels on Tuesday where he and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo signed a security pact including the delivery of 30 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Zelenskiy also visited the pilot training site for Ukraine’s F-16 pilots. The signed “document includes at least 977 million euros in Belgian military aid to Ukraine this year, as well as Belgium’s commitment to providing support over the course of the agreement’s ten-year term,” Zelenskiy said in a social media post. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo says Spain was determined to support Ukraine in a post on X.
The security pact commits Belgium to supply Ukraine with 30 F-16 fighter jets by 2028, with the first planes to be delivered by the end of this year, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib told the Belgian broadcaster RTL on May 28.
It’s worth noting that Western countries set up a joint coalition spearheaded by the US, Denmark, and the Netherlands in summer 2023 to help strengthen Ukraine's Air Force against Russian attacks. Belgium is among these countries and announced its willingness to send Ukraine several F-16 fighter jets last October, without specifying a number, and help with the training for Ukrainian pilots in EU countries.
Zelenskiy's Belgium visit comes a day after his visit to Spain where he secured a deal that will commit Spain to send additional air defence missiles to help Ukraine in its counteroffensive against Russia.
