The EU will discuss the potential launch of a major training operation for Ukrainian forces in nearby nations, the bloc’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday (22 August).

The proposal is set to be “discussed politically” next week when EU defence ministers gather for an informal meeting in Prague, Borrell told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Santander, Spain.

“It seems reasonable that a war that is lasting and looks set to last requires an effort not only in terms of supplies of material but also training and help to organise the army,” Borrell said.

He, however, did not go into detail about what the mission could entail in practice.

“I hope it will be approved,” he said, adding that “of course, it would be a big mission”.

Military hardware and intelligence data from Europe and the US have aided Ukrainian forces in slowing the Russian offensive in the Donbas and along the Black Sea coast.

“We’re facing a real, conventional war that is mobilising hundreds of thousands of soldiers, any mission would have to be up to the task,” Borrell said.

As early as last autumn, the EU was reported to be considering an independent training program called the EU Military Advisory and Training Mission Ukraine (EUATM).

According to EU sources, Ukrainian foreign and defence ministers asked for the training program in a letter addressed to Borrell last summer and the EU’s diplomatic service had drawn up several options.

Such support was imagined to include options ranging from increased financial assistance to civilian security-sector reform and on-site training, but would have only involved a few dozen officials at best, the EU sources said.

In February, shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine, EU ministers had reached a preliminary deal to conduct such a military training mission in the country, but progress has since then been hindered by obstacles on the ground.

Since the day of the full-scale invasion on 24 February, in what has been dubbed a ‘watershed moment’ for its defence policy, the EU has mobilised €2.5 billion to finance the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine through the bloc’s European Peace Facility.

Source: Euractiv.com