Media: EU won’t send 25,000 troops to Ukraine due to lack of funds
European countries are unlikely to be able to muster even 25,000 troops to be sent to Ukraine as part of a mission to contain Russia due to a lack of manpower and funding, TASS reports
The Times newspaper, citing sources, informs that Britain’s Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin, has appealed to his European colleagues to send 64,000 troops to Ukraine following a possible peace deal with Russia. In early April, he said that London was ready to send up to 10,000 of its troops, and France named the same number.
According to sources, EU defence chiefs expressed concern about the UK’s plans at a meeting of the ‘coalition of the willing’ on April 10th. They noted that ‘there was no chance’ of recruiting 64,000 troops and that ‘even 25,000 troops would become a target for joint efforts’.
The allies pointed out to UK Defence Secretary John Healey that if troops of this size were to be deployed in Ukraine, it would be necessary to have 256,000 troops on the ground for two years, taking into account rotation, and the possibility of this was questionable.
The sources clarified that Estonia and Finland are among the countries that have expressed doubts about the British initiative: they fear a weakening of their own border defences, as well as Germany, which opposed the initiative but did not completely rule it out. Poland, Spain and Italy have refused to send soldiers to Ukraine.
The sources added that Britain and France may send their military instructors to the western part of Ukraine, who will deploy forces, but will not be near the frontline, guard key facilities or protect the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
