Updated October 3rd, 2021 at 16:41 IST
European Union considers dispatching military training mission to Ukraine: Report
The German media reported that the European Union is considering sending a military training mission to Ukraine after requesting an ally military presence.
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The German media has reported that the European Union is considering sending a military training mission to Ukraine after the eastern European country requested an ally military presence on its border with Russia. The Welt am Sonntag newspaper obtained a copy of an EU working document that indicates an EU Military Advisory and Training Mission Ukraine for Ukrainian commanders.
Russia's ongoing military activities, according to the secret memo, justify sending military personnel to Ukraine. In a letter submitted to EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell in July, Ukrainian foreign and defence ministers reportedly requested the training programme. Ukraine and its Western allies claimed that Russia gathered soldiers on its western border in the spring to attack Ukraine. In April, a Russian presidential spokesman stated that Russia was free to transfer military soldiers wherever it pleased within its boundaries.
Ukraine demands penalties on Russia's gas export monopoly
Ukraine demanded Friday that Germany and the US put penalties on Russia's gas export monopoly, Gazprom, for a contentious arrangement with Hungary that resulted in the loss of transit capacity for Kyiv. This week's pact, which will provide 4.5 billion cubic metres of Russian natural gas to Hungary per year through non-Ukrainian transit lines until 2036, was slammed as "political" by Kyiv, according to Aqarat See News.
Yuri Vitrenko, the CEO of Ukraine's pipeline operator Naftogaz accused Gazprom of using gas exports as a weapon, saying the Hungary contract clearly reveals Russia's goal after the Nord Stream 2 pipeline traverses Ukraine to carry the gas to Germany, according to Aqarat See News. He said that a joint statement from the US and Germany implies that if the Kremlin uses gas as a weapon, there should be an appropriate response, referring to a July accord between the US and Germany that threatened Russia with sanctions and extended gas transit through Ukraine.
Ukraine is seeking deeper connections with the West
Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO, is seeking deeper connections with the West and its forces to aid it in its struggle against Kremlin-backed separatists in the east of the country, which has claimed the lives of more than 13,200 people, according to Radio Free Europe. Just before the outbreak of the conflict, Russia captured and annexed Ukraine's the Crimean Peninsula.
(Inputs from ANI)
Image: AP
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Published October 3rd, 2021 at 16:41 IST
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