EU Defence Ministers support expanded training for Ukrainian army and establishment of EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine

EU Defence Ministers gathered in an informal meeting in Prague yesterday agreed that more training for the Ukrainian army is needed and that preparatory work should be launched to define the parameters of an EU Military Assistance mission for Ukraine.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov joined the meeting by video conference and briefed EU ministers on the latest developments on the ground and on the most urgent needs of the Ukrainian army. 

“There are many training initiatives underway, but the needs are enormous. And we need to ensure the coherence of these efforts,” said Borrell. “It is clear that we need to be quick and ambitious, [to] demonstrate added value, flexibility, once again based on the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

Borrell also denied information published in the press that EU military aid to Ukraine had decreased over the summer: “The figures show that, during the summer, the support and flow of military equipment to Ukraine has continued and even increased.”  

The total amount of EU military aid to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility now stands at 2 billion euros.

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