The EU is to increase the number of Ukrainian soldiers being trained but will not do so inside Ukrainian territory, the block’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday.
Speaking ahead of an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels, Borrell said that although the exact number would be revealed later, the increase would be more than the current 60,000.
“The most important issue is EU military support for Ukraine. As part of this support, the training of soldiers plays an important role.
“So, we will discuss how to increase our training mission. The target is about 60,000 trained soldiers.
“We will increase this target, and I'll tell you by how many by the end of the day," Borrell told journalists.
He added that although there was still no consensus about training soldiers inside Ukraine, “this is the most successful training mission ever done by the European Union.”
The question of training Ukraine soldiers in Ukraine is divisive, with Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski saying that although he can envisage some countries doing so based on a bilateral agreement, “Poland is not one of them.”
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur added that, although not opposed to the idea in principle because “we have to do everything in our power to help the Ukrainians,”, doing so could put soldiers at risk.
He said: “When we start doing this at the level of (...) a battalion or brigade, which means 1,000 to 5,000 people, then this is a significant risk for the people we are training.”
However, Poland’s Zalewski said that during the meeting in Brussels, Warsaw would push for a radical increase in Ukraine's defense capabilities, including using Polish weapons to strike targets on Russian territory.
But he said Poland would not consider Kiev's expectation of Polish forces shooting down Russian missiles or drones from Polish territory.
“The most important issue is EU military support for Ukraine. As part of this support, the training of soldiers plays an important role.
“So, we will discuss how to increase our training mission. The target is about 60,000 trained soldiers.
“We will increase this target, and I'll tell you by how many by the end of the day," Borrell told journalists.
He added that although there was still no consensus about training soldiers inside Ukraine, “this is the most successful training mission ever done by the European Union.”
The question of training Ukraine soldiers in Ukraine is divisive, with Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Paweł Zalewski saying that although he can envisage some countries doing so based on a bilateral agreement, “Poland is not one of them.”
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur added that, although not opposed to the idea in principle because “we have to do everything in our power to help the Ukrainians,”, doing so could put soldiers at risk.
He said: “When we start doing this at the level of (...) a battalion or brigade, which means 1,000 to 5,000 people, then this is a significant risk for the people we are training.”
However, Poland’s Zalewski said that during the meeting in Brussels, Warsaw would push for a radical increase in Ukraine's defense capabilities, including using Polish weapons to strike targets on Russian territory.
But he said Poland would not consider Kiev's expectation of Polish forces shooting down Russian missiles or drones from Polish territory.
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