Ukraine says talks on France sending military instructors ongoing
The Hindu
Ukraine clarifies talks with France on military instructors, no official deployment confirmed, amid tensions with Russia.
Ukraine on Monday walked back an announcement that French military instructors would soon arrive in the country, saying that it was still in talks with Paris and other allies on the issue.
Kyiv's Defence Ministry made the "clarification" after army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said that the first French military instructors would soon arrive in the war-battered country.
"As of now, we are still in discussions with France and other countries on this," Ukraine's Defence Ministry said in a statement.
It added that it had "begun internal work on the relevant documents on this issue in order not to waste time on coordinating bureaucratic issues when the relevant decision is made."
Mr. Syrsky earlier said that he had "signed the documents that will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centres soon and get acquainted with their infrastructure and personnel."
He made the announcement after he and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov took part in a video call with French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
France's Defence Ministry said the issue was being studied but did not confirm the deployment.
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