President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Belgium on May 28 to sign a bilateral security agreement, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo announced in a television news broadcast on May 27.
Belgium will become the 11th country to sign such an accord with Ukraine, following Spain, the U.K., Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, Canada,the Netherlands, Finland, and Latvia.
The treaties are based on a pledge made by the Group of Seven (G7) countries last July and are designed to help Kyiv fend off Russian forces and deter future aggression.
Zelensky will fly into Brussels directly from Spain, where he finalized a security deal with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on May 27. He will meet with the prime minister and Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder, de Croo announced on the Belgian television channel Play4.
Zelensky will hold a joint press conference with de Croo after the leaders sign the security agreement.
The visit will also include a tour of a military airbase, where Zelensky will meet with flight instructors who are training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
De Croo said on April 26 that Belgium hopes to begin shipping F-16s to Ukraine later this year. Belgium was among the first countries to join the F-16 training coalition established in the summer of 2023 to bolster Ukraine's Air Force. The initiative was spearheaded by the U.S., Denmark, and the Netherlands.
The Kyiv Independent news desk
(Updated: )
