Protecting trainers Canada's priority as France pushes new mission in Ukraine, top soldier says

Protecting military trainers in the event they're deployed back into Ukraine is the primary concern for Canadian defence planners as France steps up pressure on allies to join its training initiative, Canada's top military commander says.

The federal government signaled earlier in the spring it would consider putting non-combat troops back into the embattled Eastern European country when "circumstances are appropriate."

Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre received a briefing on the training mission from his French counterpart following D-Day commemoration ceremonies last week.

In an interview with CBC's Rosemary Barton Live to be broadcast Sunday, Eyre acknowledged the security assistance deal Canada signed with Ukraine last winter set up a framework for the return for Canadian trainers to Ukrainian soil. He said there are a number of important points Canada wants to get settled before it send trainers back in.

Canadian Armed Forces planners are "mainly concerned with force protection, what the security situation [on the ground] is and what are the political conditions," Eyre said.

Canada and other allies started operating military training missions inside Ukraine in 2015, well before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

The battle schools for Ukrainian troops have continued in the United Kingdom, Poland and Latvia. But the French and other allies, including the Baltic States, have pushed to bring the instruction closer to the front where Ukrainians have to fight.

In early June, Chief of the Defence Staff of France Gen. Thierry Burkhard sent letters to roughly 10 countries inviting them to join a multinational coalition to train the military in Ukraine.

Canadian defence officials would not confirm whether Canada had received one of the letters but said no decision had been made on participation in the French-led initiative.

For the moment it's status quo, said a spokesperson for Defence Minister Bill Blair.

"Canada continues to train members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine through Operation UNIFIER, through which we have trained over 41,000 Ukrainian troops," said Diana Ebadi in a media statement.

"Canadian training is ongoing in Latvia, Poland and the U.K. and our plan is to continue training in those locations."

On Friday, NATO formalized a separate but complementary plan to better manage both training of Ukrainian forces and the supply of weapons to the government in Kyiv. The new effort — to be headquartered at a U.S. military base in Wiesbaden, Germany with a complement of almost 700 staff — will organize continued training in allied countries but not in Ukraine.

"These efforts do not make NATO a party to the conflict, but they will enhance our support to Ukraine to uphold its right to self defence," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the conclusion of a meeting of defence ministers where the measures were approved.