The opposition of most European countries to the training of Ukrainian forces
Eviralnews,, most of the European Union countries have opposed the plan for EU military trainers to train Ukrainian soldiers in Ukraine.
However, training activities could be geographically closer to Ukraine, said Arnold Kamel, Secretary General and Director General of Defense Policy of the Austrian Ministry of Defense in an interview with APA.
Kamel, who represented Austrian Defense Minister Claudia Tanner (ÖVP) at an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels on Friday, also said the ministers discussed strengthening the EU's training mission for Ukraine.
The mission was recently extended until November 15, 2026, Kamel confirmed. All EU member states also agreed to this. According to this Austrian official, there are no accurate statistics on how many more Ukrainian soldiers will be trained during this period. Countries that still have capacity can provide it to Ukraine. With the extension of the mission, training for Ukrainian soldiers will be funded through the European Peace Facility (EFF).
European Union foreign policy official Joseph Borrell told reporters before the meeting: “We will increase this goal.”
According to Thomas Heichler, the current target of 60,000 trained Ukrainian soldiers has been met by German military officials. Germany will participate with 10,000 trained troops by the end of the year.
Burrell also explained that there are discussions about the creation of a corresponding coordination center (for the training of Ukrainian forces) in Kiev. However, according to him, there is no consensus among the EU member states about the training of Ukrainian soldiers in this country using European instructors.
The EUMAM Ukraine mission was launched in autumn 2022. So far, the training has been conducted mainly in Poland and Germany. According to a document from the European External Action Service (EEAS), 24 of the 27 EU countries participate directly in this mission. Austria is not among them, but it helps indirectly through financing.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that the European Union had not done enough to strengthen arms. He said at a security conference in Prague: “Protection of Europe is, first of all, Europe's duty.” While NATO must remain central to our collective defense, we need a much stronger European pillar.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kulba, also demanded that the Ukrainian army be allowed to attack targets in Russia with Western weapons. Some countries, such as the United States, had linked their arms deliveries to the condition that they be used only for defensive purposes on Ukrainian soil.
“I think it's ridiculous to say that allowing attacks on targets in Russia means conflict with Moscow,” Borrell said Friday, supporting Ukraine's demand. Burrell said: According to international law, Ukraine can attack the places from where it is attacked.
The EU wants to train another 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers by the end of the year. A total of 75,000 Ukrainians are being trained as part of the European Union Training Mission (EUMAM), EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday after an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels. According to him, however, these forces should not be trained on the territory of Ukraine, as requested by this country.
Burrell said: “There was no agreement between the member states of the European Union in this regard.” However, training should take place as geographically close to Ukraine as possible. In addition, a liaison office should be established in Kiev to better coordinate the training of soldiers.
The European Union's foreign policy official has estimated the EU's military aid to Ukraine at 43 billion euros so far, and also announced the civilian aid, which was about 100 billion euros. Of the million ammunition promised by the European Union to Ukraine, 65 percent, about 650,000 pieces, were delivered to Ukraine. However, it was originally planned to reach one million units in March 2024.
After the meeting, Burrell reiterated his view that Ukraine should be allowed to direct weapons provided by the West against targets in Russia.
The German weekly Wei Welt recently published a report on this matter and announced that the diplomatic service of the European Union, while refraining from recommending the sending of military trainers to Ukraine, asked the member states to adjust the planned military training mission in this regard to the needs of Kyiv. give
The European Union's military assistance mission to support Ukraine, known as IOMAM, started in November 2022, during which around 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers were trained mainly in Poland and Germany.
Last May, Kyiv asked the European Union for some training to take place on Ukrainian soil, but the member states disagree on this matter.
Some critics warn that this move could drag the EU into the war, and there are also doubts about Kiev's ability to protect its training facilities from Russian attacks, given the country's severe lack of air defense systems. .
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