Reuters: France prepares military trainers to be sent to Ukraine

France may soon deploy military trainers to Ukraine, despite the concerns of some allies.

Reuters reported on this, citing three diplomatic sources.

According to the agency’s sources, France may announce its decision next week during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit.

France would initially send a limited number of personnel to assess the modalities of a mission before dispatching several hundred trainers, two of the diplomats said.

Later, France will send several hundred military trainers to Ukraine.

Training would center around demining, keeping equipment operational, and technical expertise for warplanes. Paris would also finance, arm, and train a Ukrainian mechanized brigade.

Previously, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated that he had already signed the relevant documents that would allow the first French military trainers to arrive in Ukraine.

French military trainers were given the right to visit Ukrainian training centers and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and staff. Oleksandr Syrsky expressed hope that France’s move would encourage other partners to do the same.

“I welcome the initiative of France to send instructors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian servicemen. I have already signed the documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centers and familiarize themselves with their infrastructure and personnel,” Oleksandr Syrskyi noted.

Previously, some NATO member states were privately discussing the possibility of sending military trainers to Ukraine to train the Ukrainian military and help repair equipment.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonite suggested that Western military instructors could start working in Ukraine, provided that they are properly covered by air defense. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stated that some countries have already deployed their military trainers to Ukraine to train the Ukrainian military.

As previously reported, France believes Ukraine has the right to strike military bases in Russia.