French Prime Minister Announces Number of Soldiers Trained Outside Ukraine

France has never trained Ukrainian military personnel directly in Ukraine, but sending French instructors there is not a taboo question. This was stated by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in an interview with France 2 television, as reported by RIA Novosti.

According to him, Paris has participated in the training of Ukrainian soldiers since the beginning of the special operation, particularly in France and some neighboring countries. “France has trained 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers, but this question is not a taboo. It has not been since the end of February,” Attal declared.

He also recalled that at the end of February, President Emmanuel Macron had met with “the heads of state and government of the world” in the Élysée Palace to discuss support for Kyiv. At that time, according to Attal, the issue of sending instructors to Ukraine was “on the agenda.”

On June 6, Marine Le Pen, leader of France's National Rally party, opposed Macron's plan to send military instructors to Ukrainian territory and questioned what Paris's response would be if they were attacked.

At the end of May, Bloomberg reported, citing its sources, that Macron intended to form a coalition to send military personnel to Ukraine for the purpose of training the country's soldiers. Later, The Washington Post wrote that Russian President Vladimir Putin could respond to the French leader's decision with a military strike. Previously, Macron had been accused of intent to unleash a war with Russia.