France May Soon Announce the Dispatch of Military Trainers to Ukraine

Three diplomatic sources reported that "France may soon send military trainers to Ukraine despite concerns from some allies and criticism from Russia. A decision could be announced next week during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky." The diplomats mentioned that Paris hopes to form and lead a coalition of countries providing such assistance to Ukraine to support it in its war with Moscow, although some of its EU partners fear this could increase the likelihood of direct conflict with Moscow. Two of the diplomats noted that France will initially send a limited number of personnel to assess methods for carrying out the mission before deploying hundreds of trainers. They added that the training will include mine clearance, maintaining equipment readiness, and providing the technical expertise necessary for warplanes to be supplied to Kyiv by Western countries. France will also fund, equip, and train a Ukrainian mechanized brigade. They concluded, "Arrangements between France and Ukraine have reached a very advanced stage, and we can expect developments next week."