The European Union is due to greenlight a military training mission in Europe for thousands of Ukrainian troops and provide around half a billion euro (£434 million) in extra funds to help buy weapons for the war-torn country.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg: “Morally, politically, even militarily, Russia is losing this war. So, we have to continue supporting Ukraine.”
Mr Borrell, who is chairing a meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers, said the EU would set up “a powerful training mission deployed out of the borders of Ukraine”.
The aim is to train some 15,000 Ukrainian troops, chiefly in Poland and Germany.
The techniques would range from standard military training to specialised instruction, based on Ukraine’s needs. It is hoped that the mission will be up and running by mid-November.
Several EU and Nato nations are already training Ukraine’s armed forces on a bilateral basis.
When he was asked what added value the Brussels-headquartered mission would bring, Mr Borrell said he is “strongly convinced that putting together the capacities of the European armies we can offer a much better product”.
Nato started training military instructors in Ukraine after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
The military alliance believes that training the trainers is the most effective way of helping Ukraine’s armed forces as it does not require troops needed for battle to leave the country.
At their meeting in Luxembourg, the ministers are also expected to approve a sixth tranche of money, worth around 500 million euro, from the European Peace Facility – a fund being used to reimburse member countries that provide weapons, ammunition and non-lethal military support to Ukraine.
It will bring to just over three billion euro the total EU sum in security support being made available for Ukraine.
Individual countries are also spending more on top of that. The decisions will come almost eight months after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
