‘Broad support’ in EU for military training in Ukraine after truce, bloc’s top diplomat Kallas says

COPENHAGEN – European Union defence ministers expressed “broad support” for expanding the bloc’s military training mission to operate inside Ukraine as part of security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Aug 29.

Ms Kallas said the ministers had discussed the EU’s role in

security guarantees for Ukraine

at a meeting in the Danish capital Copenhagen and that “Europe will fully pay its part”.

Such guarantees are intended to bolster Ukraine’s defences and deter Russia from any future attack. Washington has said Europe must provide the lion’s share of such an effort.

“I welcome that there is broad support today to expand our EU military mission mandate to provide training and advice inside Ukraine after any truce,” Ms Kallas told reporters.

“We are the largest provider of training to Ukraine’s military. We have trained over 80,000 soldiers so far, and we must be ready to do more,” Ms Kallas said.

“Ministers were clear that the security guarantees for Ukraine must be robust and credible,” she added.

A push by Ukraine and its allies to end the war has yielded little, despite US President Donald Trump’s meetings in August with Russian President Vladimir Putin, then with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front lines and pushed a grinding offensive across much of the east in an effort to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory.

A change to the EU mission’s mandate would require unanimity among the EU’s 27 member states, which may not be straightforward. Hungary has frequently blocked EU efforts to provide greater military support to Ukraine.

But Ms Kallas argued that extending the mission to Ukraine would be an important signal to the US.

“We need to show how we are taking responsibility,” Ms Kallas said. REUTERS