Maroc - ENG.UATV.UA - A La Une - 28/Jan 17:03

Canada will Continue Training Ukrainian Troops

The Canadian government is expected to soon extend the mandate of Operation UNIFIER, its military training mission for Ukrainian forces, which is set to expire in March. This opinion was expressed in a comment to press by Stephen Saideman, head of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa, UATV English reports. “Operation UNIFIER will most likely be extended. Since 2015, it has been one of Canada’s priorities, and there is no reason to expect that to change,” Saideman said. He stressed that Ukraine’s victory and the expulsion of Russian forces align with Canada’s national interests. “Canada does not want imperialism and aggression to become the norm. As a democracy, Canada supports the strengthening and spread of democracies, and Ukraine is an important new democracy that can serve as an example for others,” the expert noted. According to Saideman, despite personnel shortages, the Canadian Armed Forces will find a way to continue training Ukrainian soldiers. “Operation UNIFIER is both well established and relatively small in scale, meaning it can continue without reducing the readiness of Canada’s Armed Forces,” he concluded. Earlier, it was reported that Canada plans to expand joint weapons production with Ukraine. As reported, under Operation UNIFIER, Canadian military personnel have trained more than 46,000 Ukrainian service members since 2015. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Canadian instructors left Ukraine, but training resumed several months later in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Latvia. During Justin Trudeau’s tenure as prime minister, the mission’s mandate was extended and expanded several times. The current mandate expires in March this year. The post Canada will Continue Training Ukrainian Troops appeared first on Freedom.