The figure of 15,000 should first be reached “before the end of the second quarter of this year”, said a European official.
The European Union wants to train 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers, doubling its initial target, to help kyiv deal with the Russian invasion, a European official announced on Wednesday.
The Twenty-Seven set up a program in November aimed at training 15,000 Ukrainians in its various member states.
“This figure will probably be reached before the end of the second quarter of this year and there will be a new training target of 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers by different European countries,” said the official, on condition of anonymity.
“This will bring to 30,000 the number of soldiers trained in this framework,” he added.
The training takes place in several European countries, with a main center of the mission located in Poland, a country bordering Ukraine.
New military support
The new goal, which will be formally announced at an EU-Ukraine summit scheduled for kyiv on Friday, comes as the Americans and Europeans are stepping up their military support for Ukraine.
After weeks of hesitation, the United States and Germany announced a week ago the delivery of heavy tanks to Ukraine, taking another step in military support to kyiv in the run-up to a possible counter -offensive to the Russian invasion.
Berlin must provide kyiv with fourteen Leopard 2 type 2A6 tanks from the stocks of its army, the Bundeswehr, and has decided to allow its Western allies with these German-made tanks to do the same. Washington, for its part, announced the dispatch of 31 Abrams tanks.
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba, Ukraine expects “between 120 and 140” Western tanks to repel the Russian army.
