The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, hopes that a European training mission for the Ukrainian army could be approved next week, at the informal meeting of defence ministers in Prague on 29-30 August.
“A war that is ongoing and seems likely to last requires an effort not only in terms of providing equipment, but also training and assistance in organising the army”, he told the press in Santander (Spain). “This is what is being discussed among the member states and will be discussed politically next Monday in Prague at the Council of Defence Ministers”, he added, hoping that the mission would be approved on that occasion.
Explaining that the war in Ukraine was “not a small war”, Mr Borrell said the mission should be “important”. Faced with “a war that mobilises extraordinarily large resources and hundreds of thousands of soldiers”, “any mission must be equal to the conflict”, he pleaded.
Without giving many details, the High Representative said that the mission would not be based in Ukraine, but in neighbouring countries. He mentioned that Poland and the Czech Republic, but also France and the United Kingdom, were already training Ukrainian soldiers.
The idea of a training mission predates the Russian invasion on 24 February (see EUROPE 12849/15). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)