PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting Wednesday for the first time with some of the 15,000 Ukrainian troops that France has trained for the country’s fight against the Russian invasion.
Macron’s scheduled visit to a military camp in eastern France, where French officers are training what will become a full new brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian troops, comes as the country’s Western allies are mulling a victory plan championed by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Macron’s renewed focus on Ukraine also reflects how shifting politics in France have weakened his sway over domestic affairs. His decision to call surprise legislative elections in June backfired, leaving him with a minority government and strengthening the hand of his opponents in parliament. The government late Tuesday survived a no-confidence vote, the first of what threatens to be repeated efforts by Macron’s foes to bring down Prime Minister Michel Barnier in the months ahead.
Inspecting the Ukrainian troops being trained for frontline combat and on French-supplied weapons systems will highlight that Macron’s influence in defense and foreign affairs remains largely intact.
The Ukrainian Brigade No. 155 will eventually be made up of 4,500 troops. Of those, 2,300 are being trained in France, forming three battalions of infantry, plus engineers, artillery teams and other specialists. The brigade’s other battalions will be trained by Ukraine, to take the brigade’s total strength to 4,500 soldiers.
France is also equipping the brigade with an array of weaponry, plus training to use and maintain it. Macron’s office said the brigade will get 128 armored troop carriers, 18 Caesar artillery pieces and 18 AMX light tanks, plus Milan anti-tank missiles and heavy trucks. Macron has pledged up to 3 billion euros (US$3.3 billion) worth of military aid for Ukraine this year, his office said.
Macron’s office said the training has been adapted to front-line conditions that Ukrainian troops are encountering in the fight against Russia’s invasion forces, with trainees exposed to combat-like stress and noise, plus drones. Training trenches have been dug using methods and layouts similar to those in Ukraine. Around 1,500 French military personnel are involved in the brigade’s training over several months.
The French military says it has trained nearly 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including several thousand put through training courses in Poland.