2023-05-24 05:21:14
In Brussels, the European Union defense ministers discussed ways to enhance military support to Ukraine in light of the developments in the situation on the ground. A statement issued by the Union after the meeting said that the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in the European Union, Josep Borrell, briefed the European ministers on the work plan of the European Union Military Assistance Mission to support Ukraine, which will complete the training of 20,000 Ukrainian military personnel by mid-June.
The statement added that Borrell encouraged the ministers during the meeting to provide greater support of military equipment to Ukraine, with a total value of about 10 billion euros. Borrell also announced that the European Union had succeeded in securing 220,000 artillery ammunition of various calibers and provided 1,300 missiles as military aid to Ukraine.
Borrell said during the meeting, “I am glad that the training of F-fighter pilots16 It has finally begun in many countries and it will take some time. In response to a question about the countries in which the training began, Borrell replied, “Poland, for example.” A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to AFP that the training had begun in Poland.
Fighter Alliance in support of Ukraine
Dutch Defense Minister Kaisa Olungren told the meeting that a coalition of Western European countries supporting Kiev is looking into the possibility of starting training Ukrainian pilots on these fighters “as soon as possible.”
“We are working on a specific timetable to start the exercises, and we feel it is important to do so as soon as possible,” Olungren confirmed in Brussels, referring to joint efforts with Denmark, Belgium, the United Kingdom and other allies. According to the Dutch minister, the training that will be accelerated will be the “first step.” towards providing Kiev with these fighters.
The fighter alliance is to allow Ukrainian pilots to train on F-16 fighters” (f-16)before an expected decision to deliver fighters to Ukraine.
Poland is waiting to announce the start of training
But the Ministry of Defense in Warsaw refused to comment on this, and Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said after a meeting of European defense ministers in Brussels dedicated to military support for Ukraine, “We are ready to train pilots to use F-fighters.”16 But this training has not started yet.”
>> Read also: Russia vows to “destroy” the fighters that Poland and Slovakia will send to Ukraine
Limited German support for F-fighters16
And after the statements made by US President Joe Biden in Hiroshima, Japan, regarding the fighter alliance, the debate flared up in Berlin even before German Chancellor Olaf Schultz returned from the G7 summit in Japan.
The German Defense Minister indicated that his country’s capabilities allow for a “very limited” contribution, and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stressed that Berlin’s participation “is not relevant because we simply do not have F-fighters.”16 We cannot help train pilots,” he said, referring to a possible minor German contribution to the alliance.
Paris renews its support for Kiev
Meanwhile, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that its Director General for Political and Security Affairs, Frederic Mondolone, confirmed during his meeting with the Chinese envoy, Li Hui, “Russia’s full responsibility for the outbreak and continuation of the war.”
The statement indicated that the French diplomat, while conveying to his Chinese guest France’s welcome to “the resumption of dialogue between China and Ukraine,” stressed that Kiev “exercises its right to self-defense” by confronting the Russian invasion.
Mondolone also assured the Chinese envoy that France and the European Union “are determined to support (Ukraine) in the long term and in all fields.”
Li Hui, the former Chinese ambassador to Moscow, is on a week-long European tour during which he discusses the possibility of reaching a “political solution” to the war in Ukraine. Before his arrival in Paris, the Chinese diplomat spent two days in Kiev and one day in Poland. After France, Li will visit Germany and then Russia.
>> Listen to: A reading in the French newspaper Le Figaro: The great match between China and the West has begun
Beijing published a document in February 12 A point aimed at putting an end to the war in Ukraine, and called for dialogue and respect for the sovereignty of all countries. However, this document drew Western criticism for its ambiguous formulation.
In Kiev, the Chinese envoy told Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other officials that “there is no magic bullet to solve the crisis,” and Ukraine responded by stressing that it would not accept “any proposal involving its loss of territory or freezing the conflict.”
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