The European Union on Tuesday agreed to more than quadruple its spending on training Ukrainian soldiers to battle Russia, investing close to an extra 200 million euros ($220 million).
The 27-nation bloc has so far trained 34,000 Ukrainian personnel for the front line as Kyiv seeks to fight back Russia’s invading forces.
That makes the EU the biggest provider of training for Ukraine’s military as Kyiv desperately seeks to reconstitute its numbers in the face of heavy fighting.
The latest funding increased the amount from the EU’s central European Peace Facility fund for the training by 194 million euros to 255 million in total, Brussels said in a statement.
Officials say they were aiming to reach 40,000 Ukrainian troops trained by the EU in the near future.
The announcement of additional funds for training Ukrainians comes as the EU is struggling to put together a larger package of longer-term support for Ukraine.
Hungary, Russia’s closest ally in the EU, has threatened to hold up any talks at a summit in December on providing more military and financial aid to Ukraine or letting Kyiv open membership talks to join the bloc.
The EU says that together with member states the bloc has delivered some 27 billion euros in military support to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion last year.
