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The decision to send European military instructors to Ukraine may be made no later than November 2024, writes the German publication Welt. Since 2022, training for Ukrainian military personnel has been conducted on the territory of the European Union within the framework of the EU mission. However, the mandate may now be expanded to include training in Ukraine, reports FREEDOM.
On Thursday, August 29, at an informal meeting of the heads of the foreign policy and defense ministries of the European Union states, the issue of sending military instructors to Ukraine will be discussed for the first time, writes Welt.
The first informal debate took place back in July. France spoke in favor. It was supported by Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The head of the EU military mission, General Michel van der Laan, also supported the idea of training Ukrainian military personnel on the ground. According to Welt, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Malta spoke out against sending instructors to Ukraine. Their main argument is set out in a confidential document of the European External Action Service, to which Welt refers.
“The EU military could be perceived by Russia as active participants in the conflict and, therefore, cause an unpredictable kinetic reaction,” writes Welt.
The allies are considering several options for training Ukrainian troops. One of them is training in special centers, which will be located, for example, in northwestern Ukraine. They do not rule out the possibility of training in countries neighboring Ukraine. So far, EU states have agreed to increase the number of Ukrainian soldiers who will undergo training under the guidance of Western instructors, said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
“There have been debates about holding part of the exercises in Ukraine, but there is no clear common European position on this,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said in a comment to Reuters.
Since 2022, the European Union Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine has trained about 60,000 Ukrainian servicemen. They were trained in training centers in Poland, Germany and Spain. In 2024, Berlin plans to train another 10,000 Ukrainian troops as part of the European mission, said German State Secretary for Defense Simtje Möller. The Ukrainian soldiers are being trained, among other things, to work with Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks, self-propelled howitzers, Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems.
“The Ukrainian military is incredibly motivated, they come here with the idea that they will essentially have to take this with them to war. That is why they are incredibly inquisitive and grasp everything very, very quickly,” the military instructor shared.
“I want to thank Germany for helping us in such a difficult time, for supporting us, believing in us just as our people believe in us. Therefore, we will continue to fight with the hope of victory,” says Artur, a serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
According to Welt, the final decision on sending Western instructors to Ukraine may be made at a meeting of EU defense and foreign ministers in mid-November 2024. Then the agenda will include the issue of extending the mandate of the EU military training mission for Ukrainian servicemen until 2027.
Earlier, Ukrainian MP, Chairman of the Permanent Delegation of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Yegor Chernev said on FREEDOM that official Kyiv supports the initiative of a number of Western countries to send their military instructors to Ukraine. Training Ukrainian military personnel at training grounds in Ukraine will simplify logistics.
