Belgian and Ukrainian FMs meet in Kyiv bomb shelter amid air siren
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed his Belgian counterpart Maxime Prevot to Kyiv on Tuesday, with the pair forced to meet in a bomb shelter as an air alert rang out across the capital.
"Due to Russian drones attacking our capital, we held our talks underground in the @MFA_Ukraine bomb shelter—a daily reality for millions of Ukrainians, shared by our Belgian guests today," Sybiha wrote in a post on X, sharing images of the two ministers sitting in a cramped, windowless room.
Air raid sirens have become a familiar sound in Kyiv, which has been repeatedly targeted by Russian forces since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
One website tracking air alerts in the city shows that eight have already gone off on Tuesday, with one active at the time of writing.
During their meeting, Sybiha said he had offered his "solidarity" with Belgium over the devastating wildfires that have been tearing through the country in the last week, adding that Ukraine was ready to provide assistance.
He said he had also outlined the latest situation on the front lines in the war against Russian President Vladimir Putin's invading forces and thanked Belgium for its support during the war, which he said amounted to more than €4.6 billion.
"We deeply value the more than €1 billion in military aid provided this year bilaterally and through multilateral programs, particularly PURL," he added, referencing NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List initiative.
Through PURL, NATO facilitates the purchase of military equipment and munitions from the US by allies and partners. As of June 2026, allies had committed to funding more than $6 billion of defence equipment for Ukraine through the scheme, per NATO.
According to the Belgian government, Brussels has also helped train Ukrainian troops, as well as F-16 pilots and technicians as part of its support for Kyiv.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels in June, Defence Minister Theo Francken said Belgium would be further "stepping up" its support, delivering seven F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine in 2026.
"I'll propose to the government to send all our F-16s to Ukraine in the coming years," he continued, adding that this would depend on Belgium getting F-35 jets first.
It comes as Russian missile strikes on a village in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine on Tuesday killed at least 10 people and injured 18 others, local authorities said.
Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, said the attack on Pechenihy also damaged 10 houses and multiple cars and shops.
Russian forces used two Banderol cruise missiles in the strikes, he added.