Poland explains conditions for starting of Ukrainian Legion training

Piotr Łukasiewicz, Poland's Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine, has said that his country is ready to train Ukrainian recruited soldiers, but Ukraine must first gather enough people.

Łukasiewicz said in an interview with Ukrinform that the start of training for the first group of Ukrainian soldiers who were recruited to the Ukrainian Legion is a question for Ukrainian diplomats in Poland.

"This is a matter for Ukraine, not just the Polish authorities. In fact, Ukraine must gather enough people to form a battalion, regiment or other unit," he said. 

Łukasiewicz stressed that Poland provides a meeting place in Lublin for potential soldiers of this unit and is ready to provide instructors and equipment.

"For our part, we are ready to provide instructors and equipment, meaning we are ready to train people. We would really like this unit to be as large and as well trained as possible," Łukasiewicz said.

He also added that there is a Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade, which has considerable experience in training tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers in Poland.

On 2 October, Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that the number of Ukrainians who had joined the Ukrainian Legion in Poland was extremely small.

At the same time, in July, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that several thousand Ukrainians had already registered for the Legion.

However, in September, journalists reported that the Ukrainian Legion was still an "idea on paper".