France will soon start sending troops to train Ukrainian forces in the war-torn country, Kyiv’s top commander said on Monday.
General Oleksandr Syrskyi said paperwork had been signed to allow French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres, following talks with Sebastien Lecornu, the French defence minister.
“I welcome France’s initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian military personnel,” Gen Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“I have already signed the documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centres soon and familiarise themselves with their infrastructure and staff.
“I believe that France’s determination will encourage other partners to join this ambitious project.”
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief offered no details on the first French deployments.
The French defence ministry said: “As already mentioned several times, training on Ukrainian soil is one of the projects discussed since the conference on support for Ukraine convened by the President of the Republic on February 26.
“Like all the projects discussed at that time, this track continues to be the subject of work with the Ukrainians, in particular to understand their exact needs.”
Emmanuel Macron, the French president, raised eyebrows in February when he said sending Western troops to Ukraine “could not be ruled out”.
The intervention created divisions within Nato as the alliance’s member states ruled out combat deployments that could risk escalation with Russia.
Britain and Germany were vocal in their opposition to Mr Macron’s suggestion.
Moscow claimed the deployment of Western troops would “inevitably” trigger an all-out war between Russia and Nato.
But the French president’s move prompted some of Ukraine’s most ardent backers in Eastern Europe to also consider sending troops.
Gabrielius Landsbergis, the Lithuanian foreign minister, last week said: “Lithuania is ready to be part of a coalition of countries that could be led by France or another country, which could organise the training of Ukrainians on their territory.”
Britain, America and EU countries have trained more than 100,000 troops on European soil since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Source Agencies
