Belgium Pledges €100 Million to Ukraine and Leaves Door Open for Troop Deployment
Belgium has announced that it will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth €100 million this year and does not rule out the possibility of sending its troops, provided that a peace agreement with Russia is reached.
The Gaze reports on this, referring to a post by the Ukrainian Minister of Defense and European Pravda.
Belgium will provide Ukraine with €100 million in military aid this year through the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) mechanism. This was announced by Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal on his page on the social platform X.
It is reported that this aid package is in addition to the €1 billion in military support that Belgium has already provided.
The Minister of Defense also thanked his colleague Theo Francken, as well as the Belgian people and government, for supporting Ukraine in its fight for freedom.
In addition, the Belgian Defense Minister said that the country does not rule out the possibility of sending its troops to Ukraine. However, he outlined the conditions for such a decision, which are that a peace agreement with Russia must first be reached.
"As for the deployment of troops, we'll see. First, we will see how to force Russia to conclude a peace agreement," he noted.
According to him, Belgium can join the “coalition of the willing” because there are many areas where the country can help.
“We can help in many areas...the navy, the air force...we will help Ukraine when a ceasefire is achieved. And I hope that it will be achieved as soon as possible, but personally, I am skeptical,” said the Belgian Defense Minister.
He also stressed the need to strengthen sanctions against Russia, adding that new packages are already being prepared.
At the same time, the Minister spoke out against sending Belgian instructors to train Ukrainian military personnel due to the high level of risk and the complex security situation in the conflict zone.
“It's difficult because of the security situation. The instructors are Belgian military personnel, and the risk is too high,” he added.
As The Gaze informed earlier, Belgium will contribute €140 million this year to support Ukraine’s air defense against Russian attacks.