"Broad support” for EU military training inside Ukraine after truce, top diplomat says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo via “Special Operations Regiment - Belgian Army.” on Facebook

COPENHAGEN  -  European Union defence ministers expressed "broad support" for expanding the bloc's military training mission to operate inside Ukraine as part of security guarantees in the event of a ceasefire, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Friday.

Kallas said the ministers had discussed the EU's role in security guarantees for Ukraine at a meeting in the Danish capital Copenhagen and that "Europe will fully pay its part".

Such guarantees are intended to bolster Ukraine's defences and deter Russia from any future attack. Washington has said Europe must provide the lion's share of such an effort. 

"I welcome that there is broad support today to expand our EU military mission mandate to provide training and advice inside Ukraine after any truce," Kallas told reporters.

"We are the largest provider of training to Ukraine's military. We have trained over 80,000 soldiers so far, and we must be ready to do more," Kallas said.

"Ministers were clear that the security guarantees for Ukraine must be robust and credible," she added.

A push by Ukraine and its allies to end the war has yielded little, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's meetings this month with Russian President Vladimir Putin, then Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Russia has stepped up air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front lines and pushed a grinding offensive across much of the east in an effort to pressure Ukraine into giving up territory.

A change to the EU mission's mandate would require unanimity among the EU's 27 member states, which may not be straightforward. Hungary has frequently blocked EU efforts to provide greater military support to Ukraine.

But Kallas argued that extending the mission to Ukraine would be an important signal to the United States.

"We need to show how we are taking responsibility," Kallas said.

 (Reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Alex Richardson // REUTERS)