“Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Minister of Justice Olga Stefanishyna, speaking to journalists at the evening of solidarity with victims of violence, said that it is only a matter of time before trainers from the EU conduct training missions for soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Minister of Justice Olga Stefanishyna, during a conversation with journalists at the evening of solidarity with victims of violence, said that it is only a matter of time before instructors from the EU conduct training missions for soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the territory of Ukraine.
Source: Stefanyshyn in a comment to “Ukrinform”
Direct speech: “Of course, we are talking (with European partners – ed.) about the training exercises of the Ukrainian military. Today we see it as an element of equipping Ukrainian brigades, that is, we ensure the staffing of the brigades, they must be provided with training and equipped accordingly. Therefore, I think this it’s only a matter of time when training (by European instructors – ed.) will take place on the territory of Ukraine.”
Details: According to Stefanishyna, we are talking about training and equipping more than a dozen Ukrainian brigades, so this is “an absolutely pragmatic decision to which we are moving.”
Prehistory:
- In May 2024, Kyiv asked the EU to hold some exercises on Ukrainian soil, but there are many skeptics among member states who warn that the bloc could be drawn into war and doubt Kyiv’s ability to protect training sites from Russian attacks, given the acute shortage of air defense equipment.
- At the end of November, the chief coordinator of German military aid to Ukraine, the head of the planning staff at the German Ministry of Defense, Major General Christopher Freuding, said that he did not see any practical advantages in conducting military exercises on the territory of Ukraine.
- The general believes that training in Ukraine is more risky, because the Russians will try to attack any training facilities where NATO troops will be stationed.
- “We have excellent educational institutions in Germany and in all other NATO countries in Europe with much better training conditions. Therefore, I believe that a much better solution is to conduct training in Germany, in Europe, because we can be much more efficient and invest in instructors , increasing the level of learning because we don’t have to worry about security,” Freuding noted.