Canadian military to begin training Ukrainian soldiers in Latvia this month – National | 24CA News
Defence Minister Anita Anand introduced Wednesday that Canadian navy members and their Latvian counterparts will start coaching Ukrainian troopers in Latvia as quickly as subsequent week.
That means Canada is including a 3rd nation to its coaching efforts underneath Operation Unifier, which is already energetic in Poland and the United Kingdom.
Anand stated it’s a mirrored image of Canada’s dedication to assist Ukraine win the warfare in opposition to Russia.
“It is also a recognition that our world is growing increasingly dark, and that a year-and-a-half into the further illegal and unjustifiable invasion of Ukraine by (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, we cannot let up,” Anand stated.
“This war does not seem to have an end in the near term.”
Canada has skilled greater than 36,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces members since 2015, the yr after Russia annexed Crimea.
The program in Latvia is about to offer junior officer management growth coaching for the Armed Forces of Ukraine starting as quickly as May 15.
Anand made the announcement after a bilateral assembly with Latvian Defence Minister Ināra Mūrniece in Ottawa.
Mūrniece stated there’s a sense of urgency within the Baltic area to keep up assist for Ukraine 18 months into the Russian invasion.
“My country understands the situation. We are very close to (the) war zone,” she stated.
Latvia’s navy help to Ukraine now accounts for one per cent of the nation’s GDP, Mūrniece stated, a part of an general push to spice up its readiness.
“Our defence spending has reached 2.3 per cent of GDP. It means our military aid to Ukraine is about half of our military budget,” she stated.
That spending is predicted to quickly climb to a few per cent of GDP, effectively above the NATO alliance’s acknowledged goal of two per cent.
Canada stays beneath that spending goal at about 1.4 per cent.
The Washington Post not too long ago reported, citing confidential paperwork leaked on-line, that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau privately informed NATO officers his nation won’t ever attain that objective.
The federal authorities has refused to substantiate or deny that report, saying solely that Canada stays dedicated to NATO and investing within the navy.
Canada’s navy assist to Ukraine to this point totals greater than $1 billion.
Anand and Mūrniece travelled to Canadian Forces Base Petawawa on Tuesday. Their conferences targeted on the plan to surge a Canadian-led NATO battle group in Latvia to a combat-ready brigade.
That dedication was made in a joint declaration signed in June 2022, however plans are nonetheless within the early levels.
“The next stage is going to be establishing force development,” Anand stated, including that one other step will likely be defining the essential capabilities of allied international locations’ militaries.
Canada has already introduced that it’s urgently procuring anti-tank, anti-drone and anti-air defence techniques.
Anand stated she and Mūrniece met with representatives from the opposite 10 international locations which are a part of the battle group through the NATO defence ministers’ conferences in Brussels in February.
Negotiations are underway to find out what they will every contribute to a brigade.
“The process is going well,” Anand stated.
About 800 Canadian Armed Forces members are at the moment deployed to Latvia, but it surely stays unclear what number of members can be required for the brigade.
The navy is at the moment stretched skinny, with greater than 16,000 positions unfilled and elevated calls for from across the globe and throughout the nation.
That features a current request from Alberta to assist with an early begin to the wildfire season, which has led to the evacuations of 1000’s of individuals.
Anand stated the Canadian Armed Forces has pre-positioned plane and personnel within the space as it really works to find out what assist it could actually present.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
