Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, says Belgium will ask Ukraine to clarify whether Belgian rifles supplied to Kyiv were used by pro-Ukrainian troops to attack Russia’s western border.
De Croo’s said this on Monday following local reports that anti-Kremlin fighters, the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps who launched a cross-border attack from Ukraine in Russia’s Belgorod region last month, used tactical vehicles originally given to Ukraine by the United States and Poland and carried rifles made in Belgium and the Czech Republic.
According to De Croo, “Our defence ministry and its intelligence agencies have started an investigation and are asking for information to determine what has happened exactly.
“European weapons are delivered to Ukraine under the condition that they are used on Ukrainian territory with the purpose of defending that territory. And we have strict controls in place to see that this is the case,” he said.
He highlighted that Belgium would take this situation “very seriously”, but declined to comment on possible consequences if the reports were confirmed.
Earlier, White House spokesperson John Kirby had said Washington was also looking into reports that U.S. vehicles and equipment “could have been involved” in the cross-border raids in Belgorod.
