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Belgium has promised to send 30 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine by 2028 in the latest defence pledge by a Nato member to Kyiv, demonstrating allies’ resolve in the face of Russia’s intensifying assault on the country.
But Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his demand for western allies to lift restrictions on the use of supplied weaponry to hit targets in Russia, saying it was “unfair” that Ukraine could not strike back against long-range missile strikes on its cities.
Zelenskyy has pleaded for US-made Patriot systems capable of shooting down Russian missiles and planes that launch powerful glide bombs on Ukrainian military positions and cities. Ukraine’s air force has said the only way to halt their use is to be able to shoot down the aircraft carrying the bombs while they are in Russia with long-range air defence systems and F-16s.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo made clear that the F-16s were being supplied under an agreement that would only allow them to be used in the “territory of Ukraine”.
Usage of western weapons to strike Russia has become an increasingly contentious issue as some Nato members fear that such a move would mark an escalation of the conflict.
“Putin has only one influence mechanism, that is the destruction of life. He is not capable of anything else,” Zelenskyy said at a joint press conference in Brussels. “A sufficient power of weaponry is crucial so that we can physically defend [ourselves] against Russia’s terror.”
“They are shooting at you, and you cannot shoot back at them because you do not have the permission [from western partners],” he added.
Ukraine’s western allies are under intense pressure to step up supplies of weaponry, particularly artillery and air defence systems, as Russia seeks to make further territorial gains in the country’s east while also subjecting Ukrainian cities to daily bombing raids.
Russian forces have been on the march since last autumn, having seized the initiative on the battlefield after Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive.
The Kremlin’s troops captured the important industrial city of Avdiivka on February 17 and have continued to pound their way deeper into the eastern Donetsk region. Their focus has been the strategic town of Chasiv Yar, which if captured would give them a launch pad to attack deeper into the region.
Early this month, Russia opened a new front in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, where some 30,000 ground forces backed by the air force surged across the border to capture several towns and villages.
Oleksandr Lytvynenko, Ukraine’s national security and intelligence chief, told the Financial Times that Moscow’s goal was to create a “buffer zone” to prevent Ukrainian incursions in Russia while forcing Kyiv to divert resources from Donetsk to the area.
Belgium’s pledge takes the total number of F-16s promised to Ukraine by Nato allies including Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands to about 80. Training of Ukrainian pilots on the US-designed jets, first manufactured almost 50 years ago, has been under way for months.
The fighter jets were announced as part of a bilateral security pact with Ukraine that also includes supply of armoured vehicles, increased production of ammunition and military training. The intention is to deliver at least one F-16 this year, De Croo said.
The pact follows a similar agreement made with Spain’s government on Monday that includes deliveries of missiles for Patriot air defence batteries.
The bilateral deals with EU capitals come as the bloc itself is unable to make disbursements from a €6.5bn fund created to facilitate weapons supplies to Ukraine because of opposition from Hungary.
Budapest’s objections could also prevent Brussels from spending the first €3bn raised from immobilised Russian sovereign assets that has been earmarked to provide more weaponry.
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