Ukraine began joint military exercises with U.S. and other NATO troops on Monday, at a time when neighbouring Russia and Belarus have been holding large-scale drills that alarmed the West.
Ukraine, at war with Russia-backed separatists since 2014, has long sought closer integration with Western militaries in the hope of one day joining NATO.
A Ukrainian defence ministry spokesman said 4,000 Ukrainian troops and 2,000 foreigners would participate in the “RAPID TRIDENT – 2021” drill, due to run until Oct. 1.
“I believe that each of you will concentrate all your knowledge, all your efforts in order to show the aggressor countries that they have no chance,” Ihor Palahniuk, training commander of Ukraine’s forces, said at the opening ceremony at Ukraine’s International Peacekeeping Security Centre near Yaroviv in the country’s west.
The U.S. military said in a statement the drill involved a brigade combat team of the Washington National Guard, deployed in Ukraine since April as part of a multi-national training force. Troops from 12 countries in total would be involved, “to enhance interoperability among allied and partner nations” and demonstrate readiness.
The exercise, which took place in recent weeks shortly after a huge war game performed by Moscow near the NATO-EU border between Russia and Belarus, states that Russia has involved an army of 200,000 people. Kiev and NATO have also accused Russia of deploying additional troops near the Ukrainian border this year.
On Monday, about 20 Russian warships began large-scale live-fire training in the Black Sea.
via Reuters
