Toner concluded that this additional program brings US total security assistance committed to Ukraine since 2014 to more than $244 million.
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“This training is part of our long-running defense cooperation with Ukraine and is taking place at the invitation of the Ukraine Government”, he said.
Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, head of U.S. Army forces in Europe, stated earlier this month that U.S. officers have been discussing increasing the military coaching to embrace regular Ukrainian troops underneath the Defense Ministry. “Our focus is on… non-lethal aid. And there is no plan to change that”. The Pentagon said the training offered to regular Ukrainian military troops would be similar to that given to the national guard forces.
Ukraine on Friday reported a soldier had died in clashes with pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country, despite another global bid to find a solution to the 15-month conflict.
The United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies have backed Ukraine diplomatically and have denounced what they see as Russian Federation s intervention to support the rebels and prolong the destabilizing conflict.
The United States will begin training Ukrainian army troops this fall in an expansion of its military involvement in the divided country, the State Department said July 24.
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Ties between Washington and Moscow deteriorated last year after pro-Western forces ousted Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
