Belgium will send 30 F-16s to Ukraine before 2028, with the first fighter jets arriving later this year, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib told Bel RTL radio.
"Belgium will commit itself to sending 30 of its F-16s to Ukraine, and the first jets should be delivered before year-end," Belgium’s top diplomat announced.
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Vladimir Zelensky and Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo have signed a security agreement, which includes a commitment by Brussels to supply Ukraine with 30 F-16 fighter jets.
ReplyDeleteUkraine is set to receive €977 million (around $1 billion) in military aid from Belgium during 2024 under a ten-year bilateral deal, Zelensky wrote on X (formerly Twitter) after his meeting with De Croo in Brussels on Tuesday.
Belgium joined a so-called ‘F-16 coalition’ with the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway last year. But the newly signed pact “for the first time... specifies the exact number of F-16 fighter jets – 30 – that will be delivered to Ukraine by 2028,” he wrote.
The first US-made warplanes from Belgium will arrive “already this year,” Zelensky said.