U.S. hosts war exercises for Ukraine’s military
The United States is hosting war planning exercises in Germany for Ukrainian military officers to help them think through upcoming battlefield decisions.
On Thursday, top U.S. military officer, Army General Mark Milley visited the war gaming facility at a U.S. Army base in Wiesbaden, Germany where the table-top exercises are being carried out.
U.S. officials declined to talk through the potential battlefield scenarios that Ukrainian military staff were examining during the drills, which involve thought exercises to evaluate possible military courses of action.
“No one is sitting there telling the Ukrainians, go left or right or do this or do that. That is not the job of the international community,” Milley told reporters travelling with him to Germany.
“All we’re doing is setting up the framework and the mechanics to allow the Ukrainians to self-learn, to learn against a situation, or various scenarios.”
General Darryl Williams, the U.S. Army commander in Europe, praised the dozens of Ukrainian military staff who attended the drills, saying they were “really, really good”.
The drills come on the heels of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, as speculation mounts about what potential offensives Kyiv and Moscow might attempt in the war’s second year.
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The United States and its allies are also training Ukrainian forces outside of Ukraine, including combined arms training in Germany.
Milley expressed optimism in Ukraine’s military even as he acknowledged a difficult fight ahead.
“I have tremendous confidence in the Ukrainian will to resist. And at the end of the day, the outcome, I believe, will be a free, independent, sovereign Ukraine,” Milley said.
Russia and the United States’ top diplomats spoke face-to-face on Thursday for the first time since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on the sidelines of a G20 meeting, where ministers traded blame over the conflict.
Trade blacklist
Meanwhile, the United States has added 37 entities to its trade blacklist for activities including contributing to Russia’s army, supporting China’s military and facilitating or engaging in human rights abuses in Myanmar and China, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
“When we identify entities that pose a national security or foreign policy concern for the United States, we add them to the Entity List to ensure we can scrutinize their transactions,” Assistant Secretary Thea Kendler said in a statement.
Zainab Sa’id
