Danish Defense Minister Morten Bødskov has said he wants the Nordic country to play a “decisive” role in training Ukrainian soldiers, adding that receiving Ukrainian troops on Danish soil is “definitely” a possibility.
“At the moment, we are looking at a very large training collaboration with the British. But I certainly don't want to rule out that, as an extension of that, there can also be regular training of the Ukrainian defense in Denmark as well,” Bødskov said, as quoted by TV2.
According to Bødskov, Copenhagen is in close dialogue with the UK about a British training project that involves thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. He also stressed that Denmark has previously been present in Ukraine and trained soldiers during British-led operation Orbital, which started in 2015.
“So we have plenty of experience with the Ukrainian defense, their leadership and their soldiers,” he emphasized, stressing that Denmark has “decades of experience of its own.”
“So we have plenty of experience with the Ukrainian defense, their leadership and their soldiers,” he emphasized, stressing that Denmark has “decades of experience of its own.”
According to Bødskov, Denmark can, among other things, contribute with training in leadership, relations with local communities, military structure and hierarchy.
The Danish minister also admitted to attending a US-led coalition meeting in support of Ukraine on Wednesday. According to Bødskov, Western aid to Ukraine is now entering a “new phase,” given that the former Soviet republic, which had previously relied on Soviet or Russian-made arms, is now switching to NATO standards.
These are weapons that the Ukrainian forces must be trained to use, and this is where Bødskov also sees Denmark playing a role.
Denmark has been a keen supporter of arming Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's special operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. Over the past months, Copenhagen has provided an ever-growing arsenal ranging from anti-tank systems to naval Harpoon missiles, which may theoretically also be used in a truck-mounted mode with a range of up to 240 kilometers.
Earlier, Kiev admitted that apart from arms assistance from across the Western world, Ukrainian soldiers are undergoing military training in the UK, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, France, and Germany.
Since the start of the operation, the Russian Armed Forces have been hitting Ukrainian military facilities, including those with foreign mercenaries, with high-precision weapons.