BALI /Indonesia/, November 15. /TASS/. The EU’s decision to launch a training mission for Ukrainian servicemen is a sign of a "political split personality" since European leaders simultaneously talk about the necessity of peacefully settling the Ukrainian conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists on Tuesday following his participation in the Bali-hosted G20 summit.
"As for the specific European Union’s decision on launching a military training mission, there is some split consciousness occurring because at the same time Macron, Chancellor Scholz and other European leaders talk about the necessity of switching to a peace settlement," the Russian top diplomat noted.
"This is some kind of a political split personality or, as president Putin said, a specific non-traditional form of international relations. Yet we are getting used to this, all sorts of things happen," Lavrov noted.
On Monday, the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union reported that the EU launched the operation of a training mission for the Ukrainian army on its soil. The mission is dubbed EUMAM Ukraine (The EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine). EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that within the framework of this mission, the European Union will train Ukrainian troops not only in Poland but in the continent bloc’s other countries as well. The decision to create this mission was made on October 17. It is supposed to provide training for 15,000 servicemen within 24 months and will cost €106.7 mln.
According to the European External Action Service, the mission will "provide individual, collective and specialized training to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, as well as coordination and synchronization of member states’ activities delivering the training.".