European Union countries have begun delivering “significant” quantities of weapons to Ukraine to help it defend itself against the massive attack launched by Russia, several European officials said on Sunday.
“Ukraine has the right to defend itself against the Russian invasion, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Sunday. We will therefore provide 3,000 additional automatic rifles and 200 anti-tank weapons”.
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Yesterday, Belgium already announced the sending of a convoy of military equipment to Ukraine. It was about military protection and orientation of the Belgian Defense, indicated Saturday the spokesperson of the minister Ludivine Dedonder (PS). Some 2,000 machine guns will also be sent to the country, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced at midday on Saturday. “It is purely to show Russia that NATO territory, in this case the border here in Romania, is being defendedsays Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at the microphone of RTL INFO. There is a lot of intimidation from the Russian side. We are still confronted with an autocrat who seems enthusiastic about waging war everywhere. We are going to be very clear, we are defending our NATO partners. The border between Romania and Ukraine is also our border.”
Belgium has granted Ukraine’s request to send military protective equipment, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Wednesday evening after a meeting of the Security Council. These are helmets and other types of protective equipment. The composition of the protection and orientation equipment was carried out in consultation with partners from the European Union and NATO, explained the spokesperson for the Minister of Defense.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced on Saturday noon on Twitter that some 2,000 machine guns would be sent to the country, while a more in-depth analysis of arms requests was underway. Belgium will also deliver 3,800 tonnes of fuel, said De Croo. According to the office of the Minister of Defense, these are weapons of the FNC type, an assault rifle manufactured by FN Herstal. These weapons are gradually being replaced within the Belgian armed forces by the FN SCAR. The FNCs are therefore collected with a view to being sent to Ukraine.
“We must come to the aid of the Ukrainians”
When asked why Belgium waited before reacting, Alexander De Croo replied: “We had so many threats last week. Mr Putin has long said that he was never going to attack Ukraine, that he was open to dialogue. We have heard so many things. But here, what we see is that Ukraine did not ask for this war, did nothing wrong. The only thing Ukraine wants is to be an independent democracy not influenced by Russia. If we see a country being attacked in such a violent way, if we also see a population attacked in such a violent way, on the side of Western countries, we cannot say that nothing is happening, that we will not react. I really believe that we must come to the aid of the Ukrainians, and especially of its population“.