Borrell: EU to Train 60,000 Ukrainian Military Personnel by End of Summer

50,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained as part of the European Union's EUMAM training mission, and this number is expected to rise to 60,000 by the end of the summer.

This was announced by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell at a press conference following the meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, May 28.

As Ukraine needs to mobilize more people, it will need more training opportunities, and the EU is ready to expand its mission, the diplomat said.

'“There is a growing consensus on raising the level of ambition for our training potential,” Borrell said. “But I don't want to name a new figure until I'm sure we can achieve it.”

He said the ministers also discussed the issue of partially moving the training mission to Ukraine, but there is no clear EU-wide position on this.

“There has been a debate, but there is not a clear common European position on that,” Borrell said after the talks. “There is not a consensus.”

Previously, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized the alliance's determination to avoid engaging in a direct war with Russia.

“We do that partly by not sending in NATO troops,” Stoltenberg said. “We're don't have any plans of sending NATO combat troops into Ukraine or to be directly involved in the fight.”