The European Union is increasing military support for Ukraine, starting on Monday a mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers on its territory and a new tranche of 500 million euros for the supply of weapons, AFP comments.

“This is a big first for the EU,” commented a European official. “I have never carried out a mission of this scale,” he emphasized, quoted by Agerpres.

The foreign ministers of the 27 member states will approve the two decisions on Monday during a meeting in Luxembourg, and the mission will begin work immediately, a diplomatic source said.

In fact, several training missions are underway in various member states, in particular in Germany and France, where Ukrainian soldiers learn to use European guns, rocket launchers and air defense systems.

France will train “up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers” on its territory, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Saturday in an interview with the daily newspaper Le Parisien.

It is about covering three levels: “general training of a participant in hostilities”, “then, regarding the specific needs reported by the Ukrainians, such as logistics”, and “the third level of training regarding the materials provided”, he explained.

These training missions will be able to take advantage of funds allocated by the European Peace Fund (EPF), a fund created outside the European budget for military aid to Ukraine.

In general, the goal is to provide “basic training” to 12,000 Ukrainian soldiers and “specialized training” to another 2,800, the European source explained.

Artillery, engineering units, radars: the needs of the General Staff of the Armed Forces are numerous.

The European mission will complement the training conducted by the British and Americans.

It is noted that Poland will serve as a hub for the mission, as “it is the door of exit for Ukrainians and the door of return.” Germany, for its part, wants to form a Ukrainian brigade.

At the launch stage of the mission, a budget of 50 to 60 million euros per year is provided, Brussels said. It is due to be confirmed on Monday at the same time as €500m of new funding from the arms facility, which will bring the European effort to €3bn, “to which are added bilateral contributions which are much more important”. “.

“The seven-year budget was spent in seven months,” said a high-ranking European official.

The EPF endowment is €5.7 billion and Europeans will have to contribute again. Germany, France, Italy and Spain are the four largest donors.

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, will take part in the meeting via video conference, and Paris is to confirm the delivery to Ukraine of six new Caesar guns (in addition to the 18 already sent), several 155-mm howitzers, and LRU multiple rocket launcher systems. – the equivalent French and American HiMARS systems – and the Crotale anti-drone air defense systems used by the Russians.

Germany and Spain also announced the provision of air defense systems.

Drones have become an “asset” of the conflict in Ukraine. Europeans condemn Iran’s supply of such weapons to Russia in violation of UN resolutions, which Tehran denies.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, expressed these concerns to Iranian Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during a telephone conversation on Friday.

He also demanded an immediate end to the “violent suppression” of demonstrations sparked by the death of a young woman a month ago who was arrested by Iran’s morality police.

On Monday, the EU will impose sanctions on the head of this police force and 12 other officials who are considered responsible for these repressions. Amir-Abdollahian condemned such a prospect, asking the EU to adopt a “realistic approach” to these demonstrations.