The European Union wants to train 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers, doubling its initial goal, to help Kyiv deal with the Russian invasion, a European official announced Wednesday.
The Twenty-seven established a program in November aimed at training 15,000 Ukrainians in their various member states.
“This figure is likely to be reached before the end of the second quarter of this year and there will be a new training target of 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers by different European countries,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“This will bring the number of soldiers trained in this framework to 30,000,” he added.
The training takes place in several European countries, with a main mission center located in Poland, a country bordering Ukraine.
new military support
The new target, which will be formally announced at an EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for Friday in kyiv, comes as the Americans and Europeans are stepping up their military support for Ukraine.
After weeks of hesitation, the United States and Germany announced a week ago the delivery of heavy tanks to Ukraine, taking a new step in military support for kyiv ahead of a possible counteroffensive to the Russian invasion.
Berlin is due to provide Kyiv with fourteen Leopard 2 type 2A6 tanks from the stocks of its army, the Bundeswehr, and has decided to allow its Western allies to do the same with these German-made tanks. Washington, for its part, announced the shipment of 31 Abrams tanks.
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba, Ukraine expects “120-140” Western tanks to repel the Russian army.
Source: BFM TV
