British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday denied any intention by his government to deploy military trainers to Ukraine, clarifying after a statement by his defense minister suggested British military trainers would train Kiev’s troops directly on Ukrainian soil , reports Reuters.
British Prime Minister Rishi SunakPhoto: Leon Neal / AFP / Profimedia Images
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, who was appointed to the post last month, said he wants to deploy military trainers to Ukraine, in addition to training Ukrainian soldiers in Britain and other Western countries. . He also said that there is a possibility to offer training programs to the Ukrainian army directly on Ukrainian territory and that he had a discussion in this regard with the commanders of the British army.
“I’m talking today about bringing education closer and also within Ukraine itself. Especially in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things to the country,” added the interviewed minister.
A few hours after the publication of the interview, Prime Minister Sunak stated that there is no immediate intention to send military instructors to Ukraine. “What the defense minister said is that it may indeed be possible one day in the future to do some of this training in Ukraine,” Sunak said in a statement to the media at the start of the Conservative Party’s annual congress. which takes place in the city of Manchester.
“But this is about something long-term, not here and now. No British soldiers will be sent to fight in the current conflict” between Ukraine and Russia, added Sunak.
After the British defense minister’s statement, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, currently number two in the Security Council of the Russian Federation, threatened that British troops in Ukraine would be legitimate targets for the Russian army.
As part of the military aid provided to Ukraine to support it in the war with Russia, in addition to weapons and ammunition, Great Britain provides the Ukrainian army with five-week training programs. The British Army trained about 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers in these programs last year and plans to further train a similar number of soldiers.
