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The excess of training: the Russian Federation will seek to stop the training programs of the Armed Forces in the West
Russia's program to resolve the conflict in Ukraine provides for stopping the training of Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters in Western countries, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia. The participation or complicity of other countries in the conflict must be stopped in any form, the diplomat stressed. London and Brussels launched large-scale training programs for Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in 2022, and almost 130,000 people have completed them in three years. At the same time, the demilitarization of Ukraine and the absence of a threat from its side in the future is one of the goals of the SVR, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly noted. The Russian Federation will continue to seek the termination of training programs for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, although this is unlikely in the short term, experts say. About how the training programs of Ukrainians in the West affect the negotiation process — in the material of Izvestia.
The Russian Federation is against the training programs of the Armed Forces in the West
Russia's program for resolving the conflict in Ukraine provides for stopping the training of Ukrainian militants in other countries, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry for crimes of the Kiev regime, told Izvestia. According to him, the termination of such programs will serve as a demonstration of the desire to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.
— A comprehensive program has been proposed by the Russian side, and, of course, the participation or complicity of other countries is a key point that must be stopped in any form. And in the form of arms supplies and training of Ukrainian militants, among other things. All this is a direct complicity in the conflict. A demonstration of the desire to resolve it is the termination of these programs," the diplomat told Izvestia.
There are currently two main training programs for Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in Western countries. The UK is conducting an Interflex mission, and Brussels is training the Ukrainian military using EUMAM. The United States is also taking part in training on the territory of its bases in Germany, where Ukrainians are undergoing accelerated training according to NATO standards to participate in combat operations against Russia.
Any assistance to Ukraine for its continuation of hostilities and preparation of terrorist operations does not contribute to the settlement of the conflict and constitutes hostile actions towards Russia, Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, told Izvestia.
— Any assistance to Ukraine for its continuation of hostilities and preparation of terrorist operations absolutely does not contribute to the settlement of the conflict and constitutes hostile actions towards Russia. This is how we classify them," the politician noted.
The actions of NATO and the United Kingdom show that London and Brussels are opposed to attempts to reach compromises and develop agreements on the exchange of prisoners and the return of bodies, which are already being implemented. Attempts to change the situation are met with bitterness and new provocations, Grigory Karasin, head of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in a conversation with Izvestia.
— Of course, this is a pronounced program of struggle against everything Russian and Russian, a manifestation of militarism in all respects. I would also add to this the desire to consolidate the Kiev government and Ukrainian citizens in general as an effective tool for achieving their own strategic interests — British, and in this case, NATO. Ukrainians do not belong to themselves, but Moscow's dialogue with London and Brussels has been interrupted and the European Union and NATO have no desire to resume it," Karasin told Izvestia.
Russia has previously raised the issue of ending the intervention of Western states in the conflict in Ukraine. For example, in 2023, Moscow imposed sanctions against 23 citizens of the United Kingdom. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the stop list includes officers of the British armed forces involved in organizing the training of Ukrainian military personnel in the kingdom to conduct military operations against the Russian army.
Moscow will continue to demand that the training of the AFU troops by Europeans and the British be stopped. In fact, they are involved in the murder of our citizens, while simultaneously coordinating the terrorist attacks of the Kiev regime on Russian territory, Oleg Karpovich, vice-rector of the Diplomatic Academy, said in an interview with Izvestia.
— No one has canceled the task of demilitarization and neutralization of Ukraine. Only the destruction of the entire system, in which our opponents use Ukrainian residents as part of a hybrid war against Moscow, will make it possible to achieve their goals closer," the expert said.
The text of Russia's memorandum on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, which was handed over to representatives of Kiev on June 2, contains a provision on Ukraine's neutrality, suggesting its refusal to join military alliances and coalitions. Equally important is the cessation of foreign supplies of military products and foreign military assistance to Ukraine.
Moscow is ready for the third round of negotiations with Kiev, Vladimir Putin said on June 27 after the EAEU summit in Minsk. The Russian President said that the subject of the third round of negotiations with Kiev would be the discussion of the memoranda of the two countries — the heads of the negotiating groups are in constant contact and are calling each other.
— We need to coordinate the place and time. I hope that the President of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Erdogan, remains in his position to support this process. We are very grateful to him for this. We are ready to hold such a meeting in Istanbul," the head of state said.
Moscow and Kiev conducted a new stage of prisoner exchange on June 26, the number of those returned was not disclosed. Also, the Russian Federation is ready to give another 3 thousand bodies of the dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — it's up to the Ukrainian side.
Russian-Ukrainian talks in Istanbul
The Kremlin previously reported that after the exchanges are completed, the date of the third meeting will be agreed. Russia and Ukraine agreed on the exchange of prisoners of war, including those seriously wounded and under the age of 25, at the last talks in Istanbul on June 2.
How many soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been trained by the UK and the EU
The West launched large-scale training programs for Ukrainian soldiers after the start of its military operations in February 2022, although separate operations to train the Armed Forces of Ukraine were carried out earlier. In November of the same year, Brussels launched the European Union's Special mission for Military assistance to Ukraine (EUMAM) on its territory. Then Hungary opposed the training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The head of the republic's Foreign Ministry, Peter Szijjarto, stated that Budapest did not participate in this initiative in order not to expand the conflict. In 2024, it was proposed to send military instructors from EU countries directly to Ukraine, but a number of countries of the association, including Austria, Hungary, and Germany, opposed it.
Initially, 106 million euros were allocated for the project. In November 2024, the European Council extended the mission for another two years, until November 15, 2026, and assigned it a budget of €409 million. The document emphasizes that the EU mission is its "key tool for strengthening the combat capabilities" of Kiev. According to the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, the EU had trained 75,000 Ukrainian troops by February. However, the quality of training leaves much to be desired. According to Defense One, most of the training courses for the Ukrainian military in the EU last about a month, which is much shorter than the training of soldiers in Western countries.
The British Interflex program was launched in July 2022, it provides for the accelerated training of Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters in five weeks for their subsequent deployment to the combat zone. Instructors from 13 states and Kosovo, whose sovereignty is not recognized by the Russian Federation, took part in it. Participating countries include Australia, Albania, Denmark, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Romania, Estonia, Finland, and Sweden. Interflex has been extended until the end of 2025. To date, according to official data, over 55,000 people have completed the courses, the Russian Embassy in London told Izvestia earlier.
As a result, about 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in Western countries since 2022. Zelensky stated in January that about 880,000 people serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. That is, about 15% of the Ukrainian military have received Western training, if losses are not taken into account.
The training of fighters in specialized institutions with instructors has an impact on the course of hostilities and on the overall situation, political scientist Denis Denisov noted in a conversation with Izvestia. Now it is hardly possible to assume that such events will stop, since so far there is no talk of stopping these mechanisms. At the same time, Denisov notes that the termination of training programs may become a topic for negotiations with Ukraine and specific countries and organizations that conduct training for the Armed Forces.
One of the goals of the special military operation is the demilitarization of Ukraine, that is, depriving it of the opportunity to have armed forces threatening Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with the leadership of international news agencies. He noted that Moscow was trying to use diplomatic methods for dialogue with Kiev.
— This is not working out, and therefore, instead of peaceful agreements on this issue, we are forced to use the armed forces to achieve a solution to this problem, namely demilitarization. We will not allow Ukraine to have armed forces that threaten the Russian Federation and its people in the future," the head of state stressed.
To solve the Ukrainian crisis, it is necessary to eliminate its root causes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan.
"First of all, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed, this is the elimination of threats to Russia's security that have arisen as a result of NATO's expansion to the East, attempts to draw Kiev into the North Atlantic Alliance with plans to create military infrastructure on the territory of Ukraine, infrastructure aimed against the Russian Federation," the minister stressed.
In addition, Russian officials, including the president, called one of the conditions for a cease-fire to stop the supply of Western weapons to Kiev. As Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Izvestia earlier, Ukraine must also ensure the destruction of existing Western weapons.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
