The participation of the Ukrainian military in the Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade will facilitate the move to modern standards, President Petro Poroshenko has said.
“Ukrainian military have opportunities to improve their military skills in this brigade. This military cooperation will help our army switch to modern standards and significantly improve its combat readiness,” the presidential press service quoted him as saying while visiting the site of the future home of the Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade in Lublin (Poland) on Dec.18.
Poroshenko said that this unit was not only a vivid example of military cooperation and interaction between the three close countries, but also a modern and reliable base for improving military skills.
It is expected that the brigade will begin its full operation in the first half of 2015.
“The president examined the structure of the joint unit, the distribution of areas of managerial responsibility of each of the three countries, as well as functional capabilities and objectives of the unit. He also inspected the premises where the brigade will be placed, and talked to officers and soldiers,” the press service reported.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak predicted that a group of Ukrainian servicemen would be sent to the base of the Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade in Lublin before the second quarter of 2015.
“Under the plan, the creation of this brigade should be completed by 2016, but on the instruction of the presidents of Ukraine and Poland we will significantly speed up this work, and the first working group on speeding up the arrival and deployment of our units will come on Monday,” he said while visiting, along with the Ukrainian delegation headed by Poroshenko, the base of this brigade in Lublin on Dec.18.
Poltorak recalled that a protocol on the establishment of the Ukrainian-Polish-Lithuanian brigade had been signed in Sep. 2014.
The main objective of this unit, the minister said, is the fulfillment UN peacekeeping duties.
According to him, the number of Ukrainian military personnel in the unit will be determined at a meeting of the working group, and rotation will be conducted permanently.
