WASHINGTON: The U.S. is not planning to send military trainers into Ukraine a top U.S. general said on Monday.
More than two years into the war, Russian are slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine. They are exploiting Ukrainian shortages of manpower and delays in arms supplies from the West.
That has raised questions about what more the United States and its allies can do, beyond funnelling billions of dollars in weaponry and providing intelligence and training to Ukrainian military forces from outside of the country.
“Right now, there are no plans to bring U.S. trainers into Ukraine,” General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters. “Once this conflict is over and we’re in a better place, then I would suspect we would be able to bring trainers back in,” he added.
The United States had about 150 military trainers inside Ukraine until Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
French President Emmanuel Macron in February opened the door to European nations sending troops to Ukraine.
Since then, other European leaders have publicly opposed the idea. Macron’s foreign minister clarified that Paris might send troops for specific needs, but not to fight against Russia.
French diplomats said Macron’s idea was to stoke debate on the issue, but there were no concrete plans in that direction.
Brown spoke alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after a meeting of Ukraine’s military backers. Both he and Austin stressed the need to support Kyiv as it faces growing pressure from Russian forces in Kharkiv.
The Pentagon dismissed a suggestion from former State Department official Victoria Nuland to ABC News that Washington should drop the prohibition on Ukraine using U.S. weaponry to strike targets inside Russia. The White House fears this could lead to a direct conflict with Moscow.
Brown said that he believed Ukraine had not used U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems inside Russian territory.
(REUTERS)
