The EU will study training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighter jets
The European Union will study the possibility of including in its training program for Ukrainian soldiers pilots of F-16 fighter jets, provided by several member states on an individual basis, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs said in Toledo on Wednesday. of the bloc, Josep Borrell, who also wants to increase the target number of Ukrainian soldiers trained on European territory to 40,000 this year.
“We welcome the decision of the Netherlands and Denmark to provide F-16s and we will examine the possibility of integrating pilots for these aircraft into our training mission,” Borrell said after the informal defense ministers’ council held in Toledo this Wednesday. , followed by another informal meeting on foreign affairs this Thursday. The head of European diplomacy also announced that around 25,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained on European territory and that the initial goal of preparing up to 35,000 soldiers by the end of the year is expected to be achieved by the end of October, which he wants to be more ambitious: ” I’ve asked that we increase the target to 40,000 soldiers by the end of 2023, he said, under the motto that we always have to do more and faster with Ukraine.
Ukraine was the main item on the agenda of European defense officials, alongside the crisis sparked after the coup d’état in Niger and this Wednesday in Gabon.
Borrell has again pledged military support to Ukraine for the time required. “Despite global condemnation, Putin shows no signs of slowing down his aggression against the Ukrainian people, which is why Ukraine needs sustained, long-term and predictable military support,” he stressed.
The senior European official expressed confidence that his proposal to set up a €20 billion four-year special military aid fund for Kiev under the European Peace Fund can be approved by the Twenty-Seven before the end of the year, while pointing out that The figure of 5 billion euros per year is a “ceiling and not a spending target” that allows this “permanent” commitment to Kiev to be demonstrated.
A key aspect of military support is the supply of arms and ammunition, an issue on which the EU appears to be making slower progress than expected. As Borrell revealed, the states have so far delivered 224,000 artillery shells and 2,300 rockets to Ukraine, of the promised million howitzers in twelve months, half of which has already been achieved. This involves ammunition from the arsenals of the member states, as part of the first part of the tripartite plan agreed by the EU, which is to be concluded with the joint purchase of weapons. In this context, Borrell recalled that Brussels had already made its contribution by signing three framework agreements and pointed out that “it is now up to the Member States to adopt common arrangements within the framework of these agreements”.
Arriving at the Toledo meeting, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur had considered the amount of ammunition already delivered to Ukraine to be insufficient and called for “doing much more”. Estonia is one of the countries that has pushed most to expand the purchase of ammunition to third countries outside the EU and Norway, as is the case in the current agreement. He has also suggested that European armies should consider ‘recycling’ old ammunition. Borrell hasn’t closed the door on some options he has said he is willing to “consider”, although he has hinted that in the end it all boils down to the “same” goal: the armies and the defense industry around asking for a solution “stronger capacities.” and that states work together “to reduce their costs and delivery time,” he noted.