KRAKOW – Ukrainian Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has said that Ukraine is planning to extend the presence of its experts in Afghanistan, rather than send its military contingent to this country.
“The Afghan issue is a painful issue for Ukraine, therefore, there cannot be any question of sending our military contingent to Afghanistan. The issue concerns the sending of Ukrainian experts,” he told Ukrainian journalists, while commenting on the outcome of a Ukraine-NATO Commission meeting in Krakow on Friday.
Yekhanurov said that ten Ukrainian peacekeepers are currently in Afghanistan.
“We are working with Lithuanians now, and they asked us to send several experts more. We are considering this issue, and, most probably, we will soon give a positive answer on those experts we are being asked for,” he said.
Yekhanurov said that according to a presidential decree, the maximum number of Ukrainian peacekeepers in Afghanistan could be up to ten people.
“We are currently conducting preparatory work. If the president takes a [respective] decision, he will then be able to order us to increase the number of our soldiers in Afghanistan,” he said.
