Emmanuel Macron met his Ukrainian counterpart in Brussels as part of the European Council. Volodymyr Zelensky announced that France will train new soldiers.
France will train new Ukrainian soldiers. This was announced by Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, December 18, after meeting Emmanuel Macron in Brussels as part of the European Council. Western support for kyiv after nearly three years of open war against Russia was obviously discussed between the two presidents.
“We agreed to continue this cooperation and prepare an additional brigade. We hope that other partners will join this effort by contributing to equipping additional Ukrainian brigades,” shared Volodymyr Zelensky.
A first brigade already trained in France
“I expressed my gratitude to France for preparing a brigade for our army,” the Ukrainian president wrote on his social networks.
A reference to the Anne brigade of kyiv, a unit composed in particular of 2,300 Ukrainian soldiers trained in France in combined arms combat. Trained for nine weeks, they returned to the front with French equipment such as AMX-10 RCs or VABs.
Our colleagues at Intelligence Online noted in mid-December that France has not delivered anti-drone equipment, thus exposing these soldiers to a greater aerial threat.
Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke of the presence of “forces that could help stabilize the path towards peace.” During his trip to Poland this Thursday, the head of state spoke of the deployment of an “international force” after a possible ceasefire in Ukraine.
