Canada will send 200 Canadian Armed Forces personnel to help the Ukrainian military, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on Tuesday (April 14). The Prime Minister made the announcement at the Department of National Defence in Ottawa, and took no questions.
Roughly 200 troops will be deployed “on both a sustained and periodic basis” until March 31, 2017, to “develop and deliver military training and capacity-building programs for Ukrainian forces personnel,” according to the Prime Minister’s press release. The mission starts this summer.
Defence Minister Jason Kenney and Chief of Defence Staff General Tom Lawson faced reporters later.
Minister Kenney pointed out several times that the troops “could not be farther away,” from the conflict zone in Ukraine, as the training facility is 1,300 kilometres, or a day’s drive, from the current conflict zone. General Lawson agreed that the risk is “very low, geographically.”
More information:
CBC News – Ukraine crisis: Canada sending 200 trainers to Ukraine military – here
Ottawa Citizen – Canada to send military troops to Ukraine as trainers: Harper – here
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