EU set to unveil Ukraine training mission, weapon assistance as Russian aggression continues

European Union is set to anunce next week that it’s setting up a military training mission in Europe for thousands of Ukrainian troops and will provide around half a billion more euros (dollars) to help buy weapons for war-torn country, diplomats and officials said Friday.

aim is to train almost 15,000 Ukrainian troops in a number of EU countries, chiefly Poland and Germany, officials said. It would range from standard military training to specialized instruction, based on Ukraine’s needs. EU hopes to have it operational by mid-vember.

EU foreign ministers will endorse plans at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday. officials and diplomats spoke on condition of anymity to provide details before plans are officially anunced.

Several EU and NATO nations are alrey helping to train Ukraine armed forces on a bilateral basis, but diplomats said that this would be more cost effective and efficient — with a centralized command structure better able to dress Ukraine’s needs — when done as a collective effort.

NATO started training military instructors in Ukraine after Russia annexed Crimean Peninsula in 2014. military alliance believes that training trainers is most effective way of helping Ukraine’s armed forces as it does t require troops needed for battle to leave country.

At ir meeting in Luxembourg, ministers will also approve a sixth tranche of money, worth around 500 million euros (dollars), from European Peace Facility — a fund being used to reimburse member countries that provide weapons, ammunition and n-lethal military support to Ukraine.

It will bring to just around 3.1 billion euros total EU sum in security support being me available for Ukraine. Individual countries are also spending more on top of that.

decisions are set to be anunced almost eight months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this week, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell criticized 27-nation bloc for being too slow to come to country’s aid.

“We h been discussing about Ukrainian training mission before war. Before war. For months, for months before war,” Borrell, who will chair Monday’s meeting, told a conference of EU ambassors.

“n war comes and people said, ‘Oh, we should have done it.'"