Belgium is ready to deploy troops to Ukraine as soon as there is a ceasefire with Russia and annually provide the country with weapons worth one billion euros, Defense Minister Theo Francken told reporters.
"There is a task force of the coalition of the willing, and they are working under the leadership of the British and the French. They are developing a plan and working very closely together. The moment there is a ceasefire, we can immediately operate with the coalition of the willing on Ukrainian soil," Francken said upon his arrival at the EU foreign and defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
The top defense official emphasized that Russian forces must withdraw from Ukrainian territory immediately following a ceasefire.
"We will keep on supporting Ukraine. We just approved a one-billion-euro package, and we will keep on supporting Ukraine for next years, [allocating] one billion euros in military aid each year," he noted, adding that Belgium uses this money to order weapons for Kiev from its own defense enterprises.
It's important that a significant part of this money comes back to Belgium and creates jobs in our defense industries. We have an excellent defense industry, which is why we will support it, even if it requires significant funding. That is why this billion is guaranteed; we will continue providing this level of support," Francken emphasized.
"We will try to deliver the F-16s even before the date that was fixed," the top defense official said, without specifying what he meant. The situation with the delivery of the promised F-16 jets remains unclear. The country promised to deliver the first two by the end of 2024. However, this date has been postponed repeatedly due to delays in the delivery of the F-35 jets ordered from the US in 2018.
Belgium only has about 40 F-16s, commissioned in the 1970s, and it promises to transfer them to Kiev as soon as it receives the new jets. It is unclear how many of the F-16s Belgium currently has are operational.
