EU to train Ukrainian military after war ends

EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas. (Wikimedia Commons/Ben Dance FCDO)

JAKARTA - The head of the European Union's Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, said on Wednesday, Brussels is eyeing several bases that could be used to train Ukrainian troops in the war-torn country, if there is an agreement to stop the fighting.

"We have discussed training Ukrainian soldiers, also on Ukrainian soil," Kallas said at a meeting of EU defense ministers, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (12/2).

"We have identified two training centers that can be used for that purpose," he said, without giving details.

The European Union has said it could start training Ukrainian forces on their home soil, as part of Western security guarantees under any potential deal to end Russia's four-year war.

Previously, the 27-nation bloc had trained some 90,000 Ukrainian soldiers in EU territory as part of a joint European program.

An EU official said renovation of the training facility could begin before the fighting stops.

Several Ukrainian supporters in Europe - led by Britain and France - have expressed a willingness to deploy their own troops to Ukraine, if the United States' efforts to end the conflict.

Separately, Russia has warned it will not accept troops from NATO countries on Ukraine's territory and will consider them "legitimate targets."