Western countries may send military training instructors to Ukraine – Lithuanian FM

Western countries can send their military instructors to Ukraine for training.

Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabrielius Landsbergis, told The Guardian about this.

Landsbergis backed French President Emmanuel Macron, who had not ruled out the possibility of deploying French troops to Ukraine. He noted that the Kremlin's plans have since shifted, evidence that Macron's proposal is already making an impact.

"Our troops trained Ukrainians in Ukraine before the war, and we have been doing this for many years. Therefore, a return to this tradition may be quite real. This may be the first step in President Macron's initiative," the head of the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said.

In his opinion, training the Ukrainian military on Ukraine's territory will be "more practical" than training in NATO member states.

"You don't have to deal with their transportation. You have everything they need right here. Maybe the (Western – ed.) instructors in the coalition to train Ukrainians in Ukraine can be protected by air defense systems, which, in turn, means that part of the Ukrainian sky will be protected by air defense means," the Lithuanian minister added.

According to Landsbergis:

"Such a move will demonstrate to Putin that it is not up to him to decide how we will help Ukraine. Instead, we will see what is needed and adapt to the situation because the situation is not getting better."

He added that he had already presented this idea to the Lithuanian government but noted that creating a powerful coalition with other countries would be better.

After a meeting with the head of the British Foreign Ministry, David Cameron, Landsbergis also supported his British colleague, who recently stated that Ukraine could hit the territory of the Russian Federation with British missiles.

He also commented on Russia's large-scale attacks on Ukraine's energy system, stressing that it is the West's joint fault.

"They (the Russians – ed.) are just attacking the brain centers of power grids, and it is much more difficult to fix them. Looking at the next winter, it is honestly tough for me to imagine how Ukraine will live," he said.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Lithuania, Ingrida Šimonytė, said that Vilnius is ready to send military personnel to Ukraine with a training mission. Still, Kyiv has not yet asked for it.

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Earlier, French leader Emmanuel Macron announced the possibility of deploying troops into Ukraine's territory, which caused a debate among Ukraine's allies.

France later clarified that it was not planning to directly deploy troops to participate in hostilities. Several NATO countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Canada, are willing to consider this option.

However, several other NATO member countries, including the USA, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, and others, have already stated that they are not planning to deploy their troops to Ukraine.

On May 2, Macron confirmed again that he does not rule out the introduction of French ground troops into Ukraine "if the Russians break through the front line."