The foreign ministers of the European Union approve the sending of an additional 500 million euros of military aid to kyiv
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, defended that the European Union (EU) would continue to support “firmly” Ukraine in the face of the escalation of Russian attacks and, this Monday, the Twenty-seven kept their word. The EU foreign ministers reinforced their collaboration with kyiv with the approval of a training mission for the Ukrainian Army and the shipment of military equipment worth an additional 500 million euros.
The training mission, proposed by Borrell himself, aims to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers on European soil. Of these, 12,000 are expected to receive basic military training. The initiative will take place in several European countries, including Poland, and responds to requests from kyiv to improve the capabilities of the Ukrainian Army against Russian troops.
The training of Ukrainian soldiers is of vital importance, at a time when Moscow has intensified its attacks against the country. It is a “powerful” program, which will train recruits and military commanders and will give “strong support” to kyiv, Borrell stressed. This initiative is expected to be launched as soon as possible, once the technical details have been ironed out, and it is estimated that it will come into operation in November.
France and Germany are already training Ukrainian troops in the use of artillery and missile launch systems. And the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are also collaborating.
air defense
In parallel, the EU Foreign Ministers approved on Monday a new tranche of 500 million euros for the shipment of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. In this way, the European Peace Mechanism has provided 3,000 million in military support to kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion. This money is used to modernize the equipment of the Ukrainian Army, from the Soviet era, and strengthen its military capacity against the Russian giant.
The new tranche of aid will be used, more specifically, to reinforce the country’s anti-aircraft defenses, of vital importance to defend energy infrastructures in the face of winter. Of these, 490 million will be used to deliver lethal equipment to Ukraine and the remaining 10 million to purchase protection material and fuel.
The EU was also concerned about recent attacks on civilians in Ukraine and is investigating the alleged use of Iranian drones in these operations. If that connection is proven, Borrell assured that the Twenty-seven will retaliate against Tehran. “We are collecting evidence and will be ready to react with the tools at our disposal,” he noted. For his part, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, intervened in the meeting by video call to request new sanctions on Russia in the face of the military escalation in recent weeks.
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