Ukraine’s top armed forces commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, says he had signed paperwork with France’s defence ministry allowing French military instructors to visit Ukrainian training centres.
The French Government has neither denied nor confirmed the move.
On May 27, after a meeting with French defence minister Sébastien Lecornu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Ukraine said on Telegram: “I am pleased to welcome France’s initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen.
“I have already signed the documents that will enable the first French instructors to visit our training centres shortly and familiarise themselves with their infrastructure and personnel.”
Syrskyi gave no further details but said he believed the decision would encourage other partners to join this “ambitious project”.
On X, Ukraine’s defence minister Rustem Umerov said: “We discussed the need for armoured vehicles, artillery, air defence and ammunition.
“I emphasised the importance of quick delivery of weapons and training of the Ukrainian military by French instructors.”
Together with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, we discussed the main aspects of our bilateral cooperation with the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu.
The Commander-in-Chief informed his French colleague about the…
— Rustem Umerov (@rustem_umerov) May 27, 2024
Contacted by Brussels Signal, the French Ministry of Defence did not deny the information, saying: “we are continuing to work with the Ukrainians in this area, in particular to understand their exact needs.”
Minister Lecornu said the subject was still under discussion, without providing details.
“As already mentioned several times, training on Ukrainian soil is one of the projects discussed since the conference on support for Ukraine convened by the President of the Republic on February 26,” he said.
“Like all the projects discussed at that time, this track continues to be the subject of work with the Ukrainians, in particular, to understand their exact needs.”
The Ukrainian commander added on X that Kyiv was also in discussions with “other countries on this issue.”
”The Ministry of Defense, together with the General Staff, internally work on the relevant documents on this issue in order not to waste time on coordinating bureaucratic issues when the appropriate decision will be made,” the commander added.
In an interview with British weekly The Economist, published on May 2, French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed the country’s position on the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine.
French President Emanuel Macron has floated the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine if defensive lines collapse. https://t.co/bfGqhPQIZu
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 2, 2024
Separately, on May 14, Madis Roll, Security Policy Advisor to the Estonian President Alar Karis, told Brussels Signal that Estonia “had not ruled out anything when helping Ukraine” and that sending troops to Ukraine would be ”practically and militarily logical”.
