EU Expands Training Mission, Adding 15,000 Ukrainian Soldiers by Year-End

European Union defense ministers agreed at an informal meeting on Friday to increase the number of Ukrainian soldiers trained under the EUMAM mission. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell announced that an additional 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers will be trained by the end of 2024.

Borrell highlighted that EUMAM, established in October 2022, has become the EU’s most successful training mission. To date, 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers have completed training, and the new goal is to raise this number to 75,000.

Training will be coordinated with Ukraine and adapted to battlefield conditions. Borrell also announced the establishment of a coordination center in Kyiv to improve communication between program participants.

Currently, EUMAM training takes place mainly in Poland and Germany, with discussions underway about relocating some training to Ukraine.

German Defense Minister Thomas Hitschler stated that the EU will reach the milestone of 60,000 trained Ukrainian soldiers as early as tomorrow. Germany also plans to train an additional 10,000 soldiers by the end of the year. Additionally, the EU has prepared approximately 700,000 artillery shells out of the promised one million, and a new program for training Ukrainian drone operators has been announced.