UK military experts will be training Ukrainians in the Romanian bases next year, the British ambassador to Bucharest, Andrew Noble, said at a press conference at the end of his mandate on Thursday, according to Euractiv.
The diplomat highlighted the very dynamic bilateral relations, the common interest in supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, and in strengthening the defence and deterrence posture on the Eastern flank.
“We work very closely on the ground about the joint analysis of the situation in Ukraine. Military trainers from Britain will be coming next year to use Romanian facilities to help train Ukrainians,” said Noble.
The training of Ukrainian armed forces will mainly take place in the UK, but “in a triangular discussion between Romania, Ukraine and UK it became clear that for Ukrainians it will be much easier if that was done closer to home”, he explained.
Romania has offered to “find a home for that training”, Noble said. “We hope it will start in the first half of next year.”
He recalled that the Romanian government has already approved the legal framework for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft in Romania.
Romania is part of an international coalition formed in July 2023 to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.
The Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) announced on 6 July that, together with other allies and Lockheed Martin, a regional training hub for F-16 fighter jet pilots will be created in Romania.
On 10 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis discussed accelerating the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 aircraft.
“We agreed that the Ukrainian pilots will be included in the first wave of training” at the regional hub, said Zelenski, during a visit to Bucharest.
Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren said on 11 October in Brussels that the Netherlands is set to send over a dozen F-16 jets to a training centre in Romania so that Ukrainian pilots can begin training on the aircraft within weeks, Kyiv Post reported.