Canadian DM: Not time to send military trainers to Ukraine

Canada has no plans to send military trainers to Ukraine at this time, Defense Minister Bill Blair announced at a briefing, Reuters reported.

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Commenting on the NATO defense ministers' meeting, Blair noted that Alliance countries discussed a mission to enhance the training of Ukrainian military personnel.

"At the present time, the circumstances are not right to deploy – in my view – the Canadian trainers in Ukraine. There is, I think, quite an understandable concern about expanding a training mission into Ukraine at the current time," stated Canada's defense chief.

According to Reuters, since 2015, Canada has helped train approximately 40,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel. Ottawa withdrew its training contingent from Western Ukraine just before Russia's invasion in February 2022. The trainers relocated to the United Kingdom and Poland to resume work with Ukrainian soldiers.

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