Has the discourse evolved? One thing is certain: the sending of French instructors to Ukraine gave rise to contradictory statements from the Ukrainian side. While kyiv seems to be waiting for details from the French side, Paris prefers to be cautious.
Sunday May 26, the Ukrainian general, Oleksandr Syrsky, addresses this burning issue. After a video interview with the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu and his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, the warlord wrote on Telegram: “I welcome France’s initiative to send instructors to Ukraine to train the military Ukrainians I have already signed the documents which will allow the first French instructors to visit our training centers soon and to familiarize themselves with the infrastructures and their staff.
At the Elysée Palace, no one denies this. Sébastien Lecornu repeats that the file is under study, but without being as categorical as the Ukrainian general. “As already mentioned several times, training on Ukrainian soil is one of the projects discussed since the conference on support for Ukraine convened by President Emmanuel Macron on February 26,” indicated the ministry. “Like all the projects discussed on this occasion, this track continues to be the subject of work with the Ukrainians, in particular to understand their exact needs,” he added. On this highly sensitive issue, Paris maintains vagueness.
“Still under discussion”
Faced with this reaction, kyiv backpedaled on Monday May 27. “Since February 2024, Ukraine has expressed interest in the prospect of receiving foreign instructors in Ukraine,” a Defense Ministry statement said. “For now, we are still in discussions with France and other countries on this issue.”
It’s also a way to ask for clarification from your partner when the situation becomes complicated on the ground. Indeed, the Ukrainian forces have appeared in difficulty on the front for several months, facing Russian pressure. In such a context, certain lines could move, such as the lifting of restrictions prohibiting Ukrainians from targeting Russia on its territory with long-range weapons supplied by the West.
Officially, France does not have any military personnel assisting or training Volodymyr Zelensky’s soldiers on Ukrainian territory. However, long-range weapons require adjustments that Western military staffs are familiar with. Concretely, for the Ukrainian army, this means being able to use Storm Shadow missiles and their French equivalent, the Scalp. For the moment, the training of Ukrainian soldiers by France has been organized on French national territory (as for future Ukrainian F-16 pilots who are in an air base in the southeast) and in Poland.
French President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly raised the possibility of sending Western troops to help kyiv, sparking controversy among his allies as well as Russia’s anger. Moscow also accused France in January of having mercenaries in Ukraine. If French citizens joined the Kiev army as volunteers, Paris insisted that it did not have “mercenaries, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere”.