Canada withholds sending military instructors to Ukraine
Canada has decided not to send military instructors to Ukraine due to hesitation among NATO allies, according to Defense Minister Bill Blair. After the NATO summit, Blair explained that the circumstances are not currently favorable for the deployment of Canadian instructors to Ukraine. The decision comes amid understandable concerns about expanding the training mission at this time.
Canada has trained over 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers since 2015, but withdrew its contingent to the UK and Poland after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. The recent meeting in Paris, where around 20 European leaders discussed the threats from Russia, sparked conversations about the possibility of Western ground forces being sent to combat Russian aggression. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hopes that this discussion will lead to more active actions from Europe sooner.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s statement about the potential deployment of Western ground forces was met with interest by Estonia, Sweden, and Lithuania, who have also mentioned the possibility of sending military personnel to support Ukraine.
