Will the EU train Ukraine?

On 29-30 August 2022, Prague hosted an informal meeting of the defence ministers of the EU Member States. The main topic of discussion on the agenda was the intensification of the training of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The relevance of the topic, after seven months of the armed conflict, is also related to the counteroffensive undertaken by Ukraine. European Union Training Missions (EUTM) are one of the instruments within the EU's integrated approach and, in general, they aim to strengthen the military capabilities of the EU's partners. To this end, EUTMs support the improvement of partner armed forces through training and advising on force reform to increase the effectiveness of defence sectors.

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Russia vs Ukraine: New Generations of Weapons

Nowadays, the forces deployed in the field are not only composed of people but also of artificial intelligence (AI) systems that take the conflict to the next technological level. Robots and especially drones have played a central role in Ukraine’s defence against the ongoing Russian attack.

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German Government Approves Sale of 100 Self-Propelled Howitzers to Ukraine

On 13 July, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs informed the Munich-based arms industry company Kraus-Maffei Wegmann that it is licensed to produce 100 self-propelled howitzers for the Ukraine. A company spokesperson confirmed the approval on 27 July to Der Spiegel. The howitzers are of the type Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) and, when signed, the deal is expected to cost €1.7 billion. Since the agreement concerns freshly produced PzH 2000s and not a donation from the existing Bundeswehr inventory, the delivery could take several years. Germany has currently handed over ten howitzers to the Ukraine from its ranks. This brings the total of PzH 2000s in Ukrainian service to 23, following similar Dutch and Italian deliveries.

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The Risk of Potential Illicit Arms Trafficking in Eastern Europe and Leak of Technological Secrets due to the West’s Arms Export to Ukraine. 

Since the Federation of Russia started its aggression against Ukraine, the West and EU Member States multiplied conventional arms exports toward the continent to reinforce the Ukrainian Army’s capacities on the ground to face what appears to be the second most equipped conventional army in the world (Small arms survey, 2021).

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NATO Announces Fostering the Rapid Reaction Force

The Secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, announced on 27 June that the Alliance is going to increase the capabilities of its rapid reaction force (NRF) by nearly eight times. The troops dedicated to this unit are going from 40.000 to 300.000, and their characteristic is, as the name suggests, that they can deploy quickly when needed.

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