Military aid from Belgium to exceed EUR 1B this year - Prime Minister

Belgium has been supplying Ukraine with weapons since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion; this year, its contribution to international military aid will exceed EUR 1 billion.

This was stated by the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander De Croo, at a press conference in Kyiv, reports the correspondent of Ukrinform.

"First of all, on the military side: Belgium has been one of the first countries, from day 1, to provide you with lethal weapons, and we will continue doing it. In fact, this year, Belgium's contribution on the military side will be more than 1 billion," he said.

De Croo stressed that Belgium has been part of the F-16 coalition since its inception and is training pilots to be able to fly these fighter jets to defend the Ukrainian skies as soon as possible.

The head of the Belgian government added that 1,700 Ukrainian servicemen had already been trained by the Belgian Armed Forces.

"But I leave Kyiv with one big conviction, we have to do more, we have to do it more quickly, and we have to do it in a more efficient way. And many European countries are really looking at all possible solutions to be able to provide you with more ammunition in the short term, we know this is definitely needed, and we will try to come up with solutions within the next days or weeks," the prime minister emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Prime Ministers of Italy, Canada, and Belgium – Giorgia Meloni, Justin Trudeau, and Alexander De Croo – as well as President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Kyiv on February 24 in show of solidarity with Ukraine on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.