UK to step up Ukraine forces training
The UK will step up its training programme for the Ukrainian armed forces, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced at the NATO Ministerial meeting in Brussels on 24 June.
The current programme by the UK has seen 650 Ukrainians receive tactical intelligence, logistics, infantry and medical training since March. With the expanded programme, around 250 personnel will be trained in additional medical, infantry and survival skills in August.
In addition, a NATO trust fund led by the UK and co-chaired by Canada and Germany will provide around 200 communication devices worth close to £3 million to the armed forces, and finance a Regional Airspace Security Programme (RASP). The RASP aims at providing Ukraine with the capabilities to share air traffic information with neighbouring countries.
The support package follows Fallon’s announcement that the UK will contribute 1,000 troops to NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force every year into the next decade. He also announced that the Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft will be offered for Baltic air policing in 2016.
Fallon said: ‘This stepping up of what has been a highly successful training scheme will mean more Ukrainian soldiers receiving vital training that will help them resist Russian aggression.
‘Alongside our new commitment to provide troops to the NATO’s new rapid reaction force and our decision to extend our contribution of British Typhoons to protect Baltic airspace, it shows that Britain stands at the heart of NATO and continues to support Ukraine’s territorial integrity.’
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