EU to Train an Additional 15,000 Ukrainian Soldiers by Year-End

Participants in an informal meeting of the EU Defence Council agreed to increase the number of Ukrainian soldiers to be trained by the EU's EU Support Mission for Ukraine (EUMAM) by 15,000 by the end of the year, bringing the total number of trained soldiers to 75,000.

This was stated by EU High Representative Josep Borrell at a press conference following an informal meeting of EU defence ministers.

‘As far as our military support mission EUMAM is concerned, it was a great success. It is the most successful training mission the EU has ever undertaken. It has allowed us to train 60,000 (troops). Today, the ministers agreed to increase the goal to train 75,000, which means having another 15,000 (trained soldiers - ed.) by the end of the year. This is also good news. We are ready to do more, and Ukraine is asking for it,’ Borrell said.

The EUMAM mission was established in October 2022 to help train Ukrainian troops. The EUMAM exercises take place mainly in Poland and Germany, but according to media reports, the European Union is discussing moving some of the training to Ukraine.