The Minister of Defense of Ukraine announced the launch, together with the countries of Northern Europe, of the Scandinavian-Baltic Initiative aimed at training and equipping the personnel of the Defense Forces.

He reported this on Wednesday, October 15, on his social media accounts, noting that the corresponding memorandum was signed together with his Norwegian counterpart Tore Sandvik on the sidelines of the 31st meeting of the UDCG.

According to Denys Shmyhal, a total of Ukraine and nine Northern and Baltic countries will join the initiative: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden.

“The goal of this agreement is to create a joint framework to support Ukraine through the training and equipping of Ukrainian service members within the framework of the international operation Legio”, — said the Minister of Defense.

The initiative provides for:

  • training of Ukrainian military personnel by instructors from partner countries;

  • equipping various Ukrainian units with weapons in volumes equivalent to a brigade-size formation;

  • conducting training on the territory of Poland;

  • strengthening Ukraine’s partnership with the countries of Scandinavia and the Baltics in the field of security and defense.

“I am grateful to the Northern and Baltic countries for their solidarity and consistent, powerful support. I sincerely thank Norway for its assistance and willingness to further develop our cooperation”, — the Minister added.