French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to establish a European coalition for sending military instructors to Ukraine, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The French authorities are to conduct consultations on organizing such a coalition, the newspaper reported, adding that the decision might be announced during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to France scheduled from June 6-7. The plan presupposes first sending several dozens military specialists to Ukraine to assess the needs of the country's forces, which would be followed by sending a mission of several hundred personnel, the news outlet reported.
The issue was reportedly discussed between Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday on the margins of the Franco-German Councils of Ministers meeting in Berlin. Earlier in May, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that Vilnius was ready to send military instructors to Ukraine as part of a coalition led by France.
Following a Paris-hosted conference on Ukraine held on February 26, Macron said Western leaders had discussed the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine and, although no consensus had been reached in this regard, nothing could be ruled out. Some EU countries opposed such plans.
France may soon send its military instructors to Ukraine, despite previously voiced concerns by some of its allies that the move could lead to direct conflict with Russia, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday citing its two unnamed diplomatic sources.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the agency, "France would initially send a limited number of personnel to assess the modalities of a mission before dispatching several hundred trainers."
Reuters added that the French authorities were likely to announce next week their final decision on this issue.
"The arrangements are very advanced and we could expect something next week," the agency quoted one of its two sources as saying.
According to Reuters, "Training would center around demining, keeping equipment operational and technical expertise for warplanes to be provided by the West... Paris would also finance, arm, and train a Ukrainian motorized brigade."
Президент Франции Эммануэль Макрон хочет создать коалицию стран, которые желают обучать личный состав ВСУ на территории Украины.
ReplyDelete«Отправка французских и европейских инструкторов на Украину может быть вопросом нескольких недель или даже дней. По нашей информации, французские власти хотят создать коалицию стран, желающих обучать украинских солдат на территории Украины», - передает RT cо ссылкой на Le Monde.