This was announced on Wednesday, November 8, 2023, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba following talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Hadja Lahbib in Brussels.

The ministers discussed Belgium's upcoming presidency of the Council of the EU and noted that promoting Ukraine's membership in the EU will be one of its key priorities.

"I've heard a clear signal that Belgium understands the historical mission and responsibility in the context of this presidency, during which important decisions will be made and the foundations for Ukraine's future accession to the European Union will be laid," Dmytro Kuleba said.

The Foreign Ministers also emphasized Belgium's leadership role in the introduction of a mechanism for using income tax on frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine.

"We need a broader legislative framework within the EU so that this practice can be extended to other European countries. Russia must pay for the damage and destruction it has caused to Ukraine," Dmytro Kuleba stressed.

The Ukrainian Minister additionally thanked his Belgian counterpart for the readiness to provide a new batch of generators and mobile heating systems to help Ukrainians during the winter period.

The top diplomats separately discussed further steps to implement the Peace Formula of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Hadja Lahbib, in turn, stressed that from the first days of full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine, Belgium has provided shelter to thousands of Ukrainian citizens, as well as significant financial, military and humanitarian support.

"We continue to support Ukraine. We recently created a new fund to help Ukraine in the amount of EUR 1.7 billion. The funds will be used for military needs and the implementation of humanitarian projects," the Belgian Foreign Minister said.

The Foreign Ministers also discussed cooperation between Ukraine and Belgium in the field of culture.

Finally, Dmytro Kuleba underlined that during his visit to Brussels, he had received a clear signal from European partners about unconditional support for Ukraine: "No matter what happens in the world, supporting Ukraine will be a priority. Together with our partners, we remain focused on Ukraine's victory."