British forces to train 4,000 Ukrainian troops: UK's FM
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Ukrainian soldiers stand next to an 85-mm “Vasilyok” automatic mortar in Peski Village in Donetsk region, November 7, 2015. (Photo by AFP)
British forces will be training 4,000 Ukrainian military troops until next March, the UK’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has announced.
“We have a very active cooperation with Ukraine. The UK will train 4,000 Ukrainian servicemen until March 2017,” said Hammond on the sidelines of a NATO summit in the Polish capital of Warsaw on Friday.
Britain’s top diplomat expressed optimism about the deepening military cooperation between NATO and the Western-backed Kiev. He said the UK intends to make a “significant contribution” to such collaboration, especially in the area of the training of Ukrainian soldiers.
He also suggested that Kiev join NATO. He said Montenegro’s accession to the alliance, which is procedurally underway, shows that NATO’s door is potentially open to all nations, including Ukraine.
Hammond’s latest remarks came as the alliance plans to deploy four multinational battalions in the Baltic States and Poland, supplemented by nearly 1,200 combat vehicles, including 30 warplanes, mostly dedicated to countering what they claim is Russia’s growing assertiveness.
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