Ukraine’s armed forces announced plans to conduct joint training drills with its NATO allies Saturday, as worry mounts over Russian troop movements on the smaller nation’s border.
More than 1,000 troops from at least five NATO member states will participate in the training later this year, The Hill reported.
The exercises, described on the Facebook page of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, will aim to support Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” in the face of “aggression from one of the hostile neighbor countries” — presumably Russia.
The announcement came less than a day after President Biden, in his first official phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, pledged his “unwavering support” to Ukraine — and as US defense officials voice increasing concern over an apparent buildup of Russian military might in Crimea.
A service dog takes part in a multinational military training exercise near Yavoriv, Ukraine, on Sept. 24, 2020. AFP via Getty ImagesFresh violence in the Donbass, where fighting has flared since Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, has ramped up tensions between the neighboring nations.
Russian Airborne troops are seen at a command point during an exercise in Crimea on March 19, 2021. Sergei Malgavko\TASS via Getty Images“We discussed the situation in Donbass in detail,” Zelensky said Friday. “President Biden assured me that Ukraine will never be left alone against Russia’s aggression.”
Nona self-propelled mortars are seen during an exercise by Russian Airborne troops in Crimea on March 19, 2021. Sergei Malgavko/TASS via Getty Images