Faced with the “immense needs” of kyiv, the European Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, gathered in Prague Tuesday, August 30, will strive to provide coordinated responses.
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At the end of an informal meeting which was held in Prague, Tuesday, August 30, European Defense and Foreign Affairs ministers managed to find a political agreement to launch a training mission of Ukrainian soldiers under the aegis of the European Union (EU). An agreement in principle whose practical modalities must still be debated but whose implementation could be very rapid, according to several sources, potentially by the end of September.
“There are many training initiatives, but the needs are enormous. We must ensure the consistency of these efforts,” justified Josep Borrell, head of the EU foreign policy and author of the proposal presented in States members a few days ago. “All member states have clearly agreed on this point and on the launch of the work necessary to define the parameters of an EU military assistance mission in Ukraine, he said. He is clear that we must be fast and ambitious. “
a very discreet France
Since the start of the war, on February 24, several members of the EU have gradually launched, more or less openly, in the formation of Ukrainian soldiers, in particular by organizing their arrival in their respective territories. Previously, the formation of these soldiers was carried out by different allied countries, including the United States, directly on Ukrainian soil. But with the triggering of the conflict, these training centers have become targets. Russia has already bombed several.
Outside, the United Kingdom is the country which, so far, has publicized its support for kyiv the most. In June, London launched a vast training program for Ukrainian forces on its soil at the rate of 10,000 people welcomed every three months. Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Sweden, as well as Canada have decided to join this British initiative. France, on the other hand, remained very discreet about its help. A few dozen Ukrainian artillerymen only were officially trained on French soil for the use of Caesar cannons, in April, in a place that remained secret, Paris having sold 18 copies of this weapon to kyiv. “Support for Ukrainians continues and will intensify,” said the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
“We must not do something only because the English have done it,” slips a European source, but Ukraine remains very demanding of a European mission, as repeated by the Ukrainian Minister of the Defense, Oleksii Reznikov. By videoconferencing, the latter presented the military situation on the ground on Tuesday. According to several sources, Ukrainian needs are very scalable. According to a document that Le Monde was able to consult, they are also very specific and relate in particular to training in “military medicine, demining or elite shooting”.
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