Britain seeks to train military inside Ukraine, says UK defense chief

LONDON – Britain is in talks to move more training and production of military equipment to Ukraine, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said.

in a interview with the Sunday Telegraphwhich took place after a briefing with Chief of the General Staff Patrick Sanders on Friday, Shapps said he had been “talking today about eventually bringing the training closer and, indeed, closer to Ukraine as well.”

“Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things ‘in-country’, and not just training, but we’re also seeing (UK defense company) BAE, for example, move into the manufacturing in the country. ” he said.

“I really want to see other British companies also do their bit by doing the same. So I think there will be a movement to get more training and manufacturing in the country,” Shapps said.

The UK and other NATO members have so far avoided establishing a military presence in Ukraine to reduce the risk of direct conflict between the defense alliance and Russia.

Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russia’s security council, suggested that British soldiers training Ukrainian troops in Ukraine would make them legitimate targets for Russian forces. The measure “would turn his instructors into legal objectives for our armed forces”Medvedev said on Telegram. “Knowing full well that they will be destroyed without mercy. And not as mercenaries, but precisely as British NATO specialists.”

Speaking later on Sunday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quick to quash any suggestion that such a move could happen soon.

Sunak said he wanted to be “absolutely clear” about the situation and stressed that Britain had been training Ukrainian citizens and soldiers “for a long time” within the UK.

“What the defense secretary was saying is that it may well be possible that one day in the future we will conduct some of that training in Ukraine,” the prime minister said.

“But that is a long-term thing, not here and now. There are no British soldiers being sent to fight in the current conflict. That’s not what’s happening. “What we are doing is training Ukrainians… We are doing it here in the UK.”

This article has been updated to add comments from Rishi Sunak.