No consensus on training Ukrainian soldiers in territory of Ukraine reached yet within EU – Estonian Defense Minister
The European Union has not reached a consensus on training Ukrainian soldiers in the territory of Ukraine, Defense Minister of Estonia Hanno Pevkur has said on Friday, adding that the possibilities for training Ukrainian military within the EUMAM mission and Operation Interflex should be extended.
Speaking to reporters ahead of an informal meeting of the EU Defense Ministers in Brussels, he said the EU countries "do not have a consensus" yet on the issue of training Ukrainian soldiers directly in the territory of Ukraine.
"Of course, we have to continue and, as I said also previously, we have to find a consensus here, because it’s not a one country’s mission. It has to be a consensus and of course also, we have to understand on what level we do that. Is it only a specific training for deminers or something like that or we go to the big-scale training? This is different and also the force protective measures are different," the minister said.
He explained, in particular, that he supports the idea, but the right balance should be found since there are security risks if the training is carried out "on a company size or a brigade."
"When we take the small groups, deminers, no problem. We can do that quite safely in Ukraine also. This is why we have to find the right balance. But in general, of course, I am not against it, because we have to do anything we can in order to have Ukrainians win this war," Pevkur said.
At the same time, he said the training opportunities for Ukrainian troops within the EU mission EUMAM and Operation Interflex should be expanded.
The minister added that it is more important for him to give Ukraine confirmation that Estonia will train Ukrainian soldiers as much as it is necessary.
