EU to train 15,000 more Ukrainian soldiers by end of year – top EU diplomat

Oleh Pavliuk — Friday, 30 August 2024, 17:53

EU defence ministers agreed at an informal meeting on Friday, 30 August to increase the number of Ukrainian soldiers who will undergo training within the EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM).

Source: Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat for foreign policy and security policy, at a press conference, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Borrell noted the achievements of EUMAM, which he described as "the most successful training mission the European Union has ever performed". He confirmed that 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained within the programme.

"And today the ministers agreed to raise the target to 75,000, adding 15,000 more by the end of the year," Borrell announced.

He noted that the training of Ukrainian soldiers would be adapted to the situation on the battlefield and be coordinated with Kyiv.

"In order to do that, I proposed, and the member states agreed, on establishing a small liaison coordination centre in Kyiv. This will allow us to directly coordinate with other relevant actors [of the training process – ed.]," Borrell explained.

Background: 

  • The EUMAM mission was established in October 2022 to help train Ukrainian soldiers.
  • EUMAM training is mostly held in Poland and Germany, but there have been reports in the media that the EU is considering conducting some training on the territory of Ukraine.

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