MADRID, October 20. /TASS/. Authorities in Spain are ready to instruct 400 servicemen for the Ukrainian army as part of the EU training mission, El Pais reported on Thursday.
According to the Spanish newspaper, the budget of the initiative to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers in two years which will be directed from Brussels will amount to 106.7 million euros. Military sources told the paper that the figure of 400 soldiers to be trained by Spain and of 15,000 servicemen to be instructed by the entire EU was approximate and would depend on whether Kiev could do without them during the training period.
The EU will be in charge of the coordination, guidance and financing of instruction courses that some members of the bloc are already carrying out on their own, El Pais said. Spain has trained 19 Ukrainian soldiers to use Aspide anti-aircraft missiles that Madrid has donated to Kiev. Another group of Ukrainian soldiers is expected to arrive in the kingdom in November. The Spanish military will also likely have to instruct Ukrainian operators of Hawk anti-aircraft missiles, as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Madrid would deliver four missile launchers to Kiev.
Earlier, the foreign ministers of the 27 EU member countries greenlighted another tranche of 500 million euros in military aid to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility. The top diplomats also agreed to set up a military training mission for the Ukrainian armed forces, which should become operational on EU soil beginning next month.