BRUSSELS (AP) 鈥� The European Union鈥檚 top diplomat criticized Monday the bloc鈥檚 slow pace of action in setting up a military training mission for the Ukrainian armed forces, as foreign ministers prepare to discuss the plan next week.
鈥淲e had been discussing about the Ukrainian training mission before the war. Before the war. For months, for months before the war,鈥� EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a conference of the 27-nation bloc鈥檚 ambassadors.
鈥淭hen the war comes and people said, 鈥極h, we should have done it. Yeah, we should have done it. And now we are doing it quickly.鈥� Well, quickly. For the standards of European standards,鈥� Borrell said to laughter from the envoys. 鈥淨uickly for the European standard means a couple of months.鈥�
EU foreign ministers are scheduled to discuss the training mission at talks in Brussels on Oct. 17, almost eight months after Russia launched the war. Several EU and NATO member nations are already helping to train the Ukraine armed forces on a bilateral basis.
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