The European Union has confirmed the launch of an EU Military Assistance Mission to train some 15,000 Ukrainians for the war with Russia.
First announced last month alongside another half-billion euros (£439,000,000/~$518,000,000) in aid, the EU Military Assistance Mission is being launched as the bloc outlines its ambition to establish a 5,000-man “rapid deployment” military intervention force by 2025, signalling its growing ambition to become a partially-centralised military power to rival the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“[The EU Council] has launched the EU Military Assistance Mission #EUMAM to support #Ukraine in Russia’s ongoing war of aggression and provide training to up to 15,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel,” the account of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, currently held by the Czech Republic, announced on Twitter.
The current Czech government is one of the more belligerent in the European Union with respect to the bloc’s intervention in the war in Ukraine, and was the first country in NATO to donate tanks to Kyiv — although it faces unusually strong protests against the war at home, with tens of thousands rallying for a “Czech Republic First” stance in September and October in the face of Russian gas shortages.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said on Monday that he had spoken to the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) of the Council of the European Union, discussing how the bloc could continue to support Kyiv in its war with Russia through the winter — when his country may face an especially sharp energy crisis, due to escalating Russian strikes on strategic infrastructure.
“I addressed EU Foreign Affairs Council outlining steps for Ukraine and the EU to carry on through this war-time winter and thanked partners for their support,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
“Liberation of Kherson proves Ukraine can win. We must stay united and principled to restore peace and security in Europe.”
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