Germany to train brigade of 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Oct 2022 17:18

As part of a wider EU mission which was initially approved on Monday, Germany will start training troops in mid-November for at least two long years.

Germany to train a brigade of 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers

Ahead of the meeting at the EU Council summit today, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told lawmakers in Berlin that Germany plans to train a brigade of up to 5,000 Ukrainian troops.

The program was approved as part of a wider EU mission which was approved earlier in the week and will be running for two years initially.

The aim of the mission is to train 15,000 troops in both Poland and Germany, and one of the headquarters will be located in Germany, according to the Chancellor.

The mission is expected to begin operations by mid-November and and “by spring, we will train a full brigade of up to 5,000 soldiers.”

Scholz added that "scorched-earth" strategies will be of no use to Russia and that the "deliberate attacks on the civilian population are war crimes."

The Chancellor also brought to attention that imposing a cap on natural gas is not a viable option at present, although many EU countries are prepared to do otherwise.

🇪🇺 Business confederation of France & Italy call for a cap price for gas. The imminent threats to our companies, industries and economies require a strong and clear action. @UEFrance #energiecrisis
— Fabrice Le Saché (@f_lesache) October 20, 2022

He added that "a politically set price cap always carries the risk that producers then sell their gas elsewhere - and we Europeans ultimately don't get more gas, but less."

The German Chancellor called for joint cooperation with other gas consumers, such as Japan and South Korea, so that competition does not override a fair distribution, adding that it is important to negotiate "a reasonable price" with gas producers.

On October 16, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to train 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the country.

Three days prior, it had signed an important strategic military deal with Ukraine, which included an aid amount of €100 million.

Denmark has likewise announced it would the same on September 14, though it hasn't specified an exact number of trained soldiers.