The European Union wants to train some 75,000 Ukrainian soldiers by the end of the year, 15,000 more than its previous target, but outside Ukrainian territory, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Friday.
“Ministers agreed to raise the target” for training Ukrainian troops to 75,000, he said after an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels.
This training “must be shorter and tailored to Ukraine’s needs,” and to do this, a “small” coordination cell could be set up in kyiv, he added. However, there is no formal agreement on this point yet, with several member states, such as Hungary, being very reluctant to have any European military presence in Ukraine, even if it is just instructors, a diplomatic source said.
“We decided to do this training as close as possible to the Ukrainian border, but not on Ukrainian soil,” Josep Borrell stressed to the press.
France caused a shock at the end of February by stating that it “did not rule out” sending Western troops to Ukraine, while acknowledging that there was no “consensus” at the moment.
Call for lifting restrictions
Josep Borrell also once again called for lifting restrictions imposed by the West on the use of weapons they supply to Ukraine. Shortly before the start of the meeting, he had deemed “ridiculous” the fears of escalation put forward by countries refusing to lift these restrictions, before describing them as “legitimate” at the end of the meeting.
“I think it is ridiculous to say that by allowing targets inside Russian territory to be targeted, this means being at war with Moscow. We are not at war with Moscow,” the former Spanish minister said on Friday morning.
These comments have drawn the ire of Berlin. “Towards the end of his term, Josep Borrell’s statements are becoming increasingly strange. One thing is clear: he speaks less and less in favour of the European Union and more and more for himself,” a source close to the German government said. Josep Borrell’s term of office is due to end in November or December, with the new European Commission taking office.
Faced with the recent Russian air attacks, Ukraine has again asked its allies to lift restrictions on the use of their weapons. Berlin and Washington are opposed to this, fearing a confrontation with Moscow.
The head of European diplomacy has also again called for an acceleration of arms deliveries to Ukraine by EU countries, following an appeal to this effect launched on Thursday by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
As for ammunition, including artillery shells that Ukraine is insistently demanding, Borrell assured that the EU had fulfilled 65% of its objective of delivering one million shells to kyiv by the end of the year by the end of August.
This article is originally published on leparisien.fr
