Too early to say if State will contribute troops to Ukraine military training mission — department

It is too early to say if the Republic will contribute troops to a European Union mission to train the Ukrainian military, the Department of Defence has said.

The potential for such a mission is expected to be one of the main topics at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Czechia on Monday, which will be attended by Minister for Defence Simon Coveney.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said this week that he is seeking a “powerful training and organisation mission” to help Ukraine defeat invading Russian forces. Wednesday marked six months since the start of the conflict but there is little sign of it ending in the near future.

Mr Borrell said the conflict in Ukraine is a large-scale war and “therefore, any mission has to be equal to the conflict”.

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“This is not a little war,” he added.

The EU already operates military training missions in 17 countries, including Mali where Irish soldiers train the Malian armed forces.

“I don’t quite understand why we send training missions to the Mozambican army and not to the Ukrainian army,” said Mr Borrell.

Ukrainian soldiers are already receiving training on a bilateral basis from some EU countries, including France and Poland.

A Department of Defence spokesman said Mr Coveney will discuss several issues with ministerial colleagues next week, including defence supports for Ukraine.

“As part of that discussion, it is likely that ministers will have their first opportunity to react to a short paper on a possible EU CSDP [Common Security and Defence Policy] mission for Ukraine, which was circulated to member states late last week. To date, there have been no discussions on the paper and the mission’s exact mandate and scope have yet to be defined,” he said.

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The spokesman said further work will have to be carried out to define any potential mission. “At this preliminary stage, the question of providing personnel or any other equipment is premature,” he added.

It is not clear what impact the Republic’s position of military neutrality would have on such a mission. Under the European Peace Facility, the Government has contributed millions of euro since the start of the conflict to pay for military equipment for Ukraine such as fuel and body armour. But it has stopped short of funding the purchase of offensive weapons, citing commitments made in the Programme for Government.

The document does not specifically mention training missions but that the State “will not participate in projects that are incompatible with our policy of active military neutrality and non-membership of military alliances”.

One possible area where the Irish Defence Forces could make a contribution is in training Ukrainian bomb and mine disposal personnel, an area in which the Defence Forces are highly regarded.

Ukraine has already made a formal request to the Republic for such expertise. Mr Coveney indicated in the Dáil in June this is something he is open to considering.

Any EU training mission will not take place in Ukraine. Instead, it will happen in neighbouring countries, said Mr Borrell.