EU defence ministers discuss support to Ukraine

European Union defence ministers discussed in Brussels Tuesday support to Ukraine with a focus on the situation on the ground.

EU High Representative Josep Borrel informed the ministers about the work of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine, which will have trained over 20, 000 Ukrainian soldiers by mid-June, and is likely to reach the target of 30, 000 before end of 2023, according to an EU statement released after the meeting this evening.

He also encouraged EU member states to deliver military equipment for a total value of almost 10 billion euro (USD 10.7 billion) to Ukraine.

EU defence ministers have already agreed on 2 billion euro (USD 2.1 billion) to support the delivery and joint procurement of artillery and missiles to Ukraine over the following twelve months.

Borrell also announced that member states have provided 220, 000 artillery ammunitions of different calibres, and 1300 missiles have also been provided.

Under current affairs, EU Defence Ministers discussed EU Common Security and Defence Policy engagement at large.

They touched on the new EU Military Partnership Mission in Niger, which is supporting the logistics and communication of the Armed Forces of Niger.

Further, EU High Representative proposed to member states to work with coastal states of the Gulf of Guinea to counter the spill-over of the terrorist threat from the Sahel to the northern regions of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo.

Over a working lunch, ministers held an informal exchange with the NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on strategic domains such as cyber, space and maritime, as well as cooperation with NATO on threats in these fields, it added.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

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