MADRID
\nThe European Union will debate the launch of a major training operation for Ukrainian forces in nearby nations, the bloc s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
\nThe proposal will be discussed next week at a two-day meeting of EU defence ministers which gets underway in Prague on Monday, Borrell told a press conference in Santander, in northern Spain.
\n\u201cI hope it will be approved,\u201d he added.
\n\u201cOf course it would be a big mission, I think it would be a big mission,\u201d he said, adding \u201cany mission has to be up to the level of the conflict\u201d.
\nRussia invaded Ukraine on February 24, sparking the worst conflict in Europe in decades which has killed tens of thousands of civilians.
\nMilitary hardware and intelligence data from Europe and the US have allowed Ukrainian forces to slow — but not stall — Russian forces in the Donbas and along the Black Sea coast.
\n\u201cIt seems reasonable that a war that is lasting and looks set to last requires an effort not only in terms of supplies of material,\u201d Borrell said. \u201cThis is what is being discussed among the member states and will be discussed politically next week,\u201d he added.
\nBorrell, a former Spanish foreign minister, said the details of the military training operation would have to be agreed by all EU member states.
\nHe said \u201cseveral\u201d nations already provide military training to Ukrainian forces under bilateral agreements.
\nBritain for example has since July offered instruction to Ukrainian soldiers at sites across the country.
\nThe programme aims to train up to 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Britain in weapons handling, battlefield first aid and patrol tactics.
\nBorrell recalled that the EU regularly deploys \u201ctraining missions with the armies with which we are cooperating\u201d.
\n\u201cWe have been doing it in Mali until recently we have now started in Mozambique and we have done it in Niger, Chad, in many countries,\u201d he said.
\nBorrell was in Santander to take part on a conference on \u201cthe birth of geopolitical Europe\u201d organised by a local university.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADRID The European Union will debate the launch of a major training operation for Ukrainian forces in nearby nations, the bloc s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday. The proposal will be discussed next week at a two-day meeting of EU defence ministers which gets underway in Prague on Monday, Borrell told a press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-279103","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n