All European countries to contribute to training mission for Ukrainian army – Borrell

The relevant statement was made by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell to the press before the second day of the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) meeting, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“[Today] we will also see what and how to push for the practical implementation of the training mission for the Ukrainian army [EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM)]. In less than three months, this mission will be operational. This is a record time for the Europeans. 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers will be trained in different European Member States. It is going to be a big effort in order to renew, increase, improve the capacities of the Ukrainian army. This mission will be at the core of our military support to Ukraine,” Borrell said.

In his words, Ukrainian soldiers will receive the specific type of training they need.

“The war today is a very sophisticated thing. It requires specific capacities to be able to use the modern arms, the modern tactics of a war which is a completely different war from what we were used to do in classical times. The armies need to be completely trained. And the important thing is that different Member States will contribute with different training capacities. In the country I know best – mine, Spain -, they will be training Ukrainian soldiers. Not only in Poland, not only in the countries at the border – all European countries will contribute,” Borrell stressed.

According to Borrell, they will also study the situation on the ground, where certainly the Ukrainian army is advancing. Russian troops are retrieving, and the war is taking a completely different situation turn than Putin could have imagined when he launched this attack against Ukraine 9 months ago.

Photo: illustrative

mk