France’s desired project for a European coalition of military instructors to train Kyiv’s troops in Ukraine is being discussed among Europeans but appears far from complete, with many countries wondering about its implications for life in Moscow.
“At this stage there is no official initiative. Preliminary discussions are ongoing,” a government source said on Friday, although there are rumors that Emmanuel Macron will announce it next week during a visit to France by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the Elysee Palace, as well as at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, we remind you that training on Ukrainian soil is one of the projects discussed after the conference on supporting Ukraine at the end of February in Paris.
The goal is to increase efficiency and conduct training directly on Ukrainian soil in demining or servicing military equipment sent to Kyiv, a diplomatic source said.
“Train more people”
Such a reorganization will allow “feedback to be integrated more quickly, more people to be trained and therefore quality and quantity to be improved,” emphasizes Elie Tenenbaum of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). It is also a way to signal to Moscow “that we are willing to take more risks, this is a long-term commitment.”
Officially, “this track continues to be a work in progress” and nothing has been finalized, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu repeated on Friday on France Info radio.
But on Monday Kyiv intervened, announcing that French instructors would “soon” travel to Ukraine to train Ukrainian troops. Before backtracking and pointing out that they are still “discussing the issue with France and other countries.”
“I will have the opportunity, when President Zelensky goes to France for D-Day next week, (…) to speak very precisely and announce what we are going to do,” Emmanuel Macron reacted on Tuesday from Germany. “But I will not comment on what were uncoordinated and unsuccessful communications,” he added.
Controlled Communication Exercise
According to several sources close to the matter, Kyiv’s retreat was more of a controlled communications exercise to test the reaction of foreigners while “the topic is already quite advanced.” France would like to send French instructors within Europe. It seeks to unite other member states, such as the Baltic states.
Last week, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis spoke on the French channel LCI about the possibility of sending back to Ukraine the instructors who were there before the Russian invasion. “Lithuania is ready to join a coalition led, for example, by France, which will train soldiers in Ukraine,” he assured.
His Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, for his part, demonstrated his reluctance during a NATO meeting on Friday. “We came to the conclusion that it would be both safer and more effective to form a Ukrainian unit from Ukrainians in Poland (…),” he said.
The French are struggling to convince other countries, such as Britain, to already have “coaches” on the ground, according to European sources with knowledge of the matter. There is currently “no consensus” within the EU regarding the deployment of military instructors, European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell concluded on Tuesday.
Putin condemns “mercenaries”
European diplomatic sources note that German Chancellor Scholz clearly opposed the idea at the end of February and that his position does not appear to have changed. Other countries are hesitant, particularly as they wonder how to respond if Russia attacks such a coalition’s trainers, military sources close to the matter said.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that these instructors “were already” in Ukraine “under the guise of mercenaries.”
According to François Eysbourg, an adviser at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, “we are breaking the taboo because we are formalizing the state of affairs.” “It’s very similar to what the Russians, Americans and French did during the Cold War,” he says. “No one ever considered this a reason for war. »
“Deploying advisory forces and training activities for a sovereign state is not a gesture of belligerence,” adds Elie Tenenbaum. “Ukraine is sovereign over its territory and does what it wants there. “The question is rather what the consequences will be “if our soldiers are forced to shoot at the Russians and kill them,” estimates François Eysbourg. “This will likely lead to escalation.”
Source: Le Parisien
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
