Some NATO members are openly discussing the prospect of sending military instructors or contractors to Ukraine to train Ukrainian soldiers and help repair equipment.
According to the NYT, Ukraine has asked the United States and other allies to help train 150,000 Ukrainian troops closer to the front lines to speed up their deployment.
US military sources mentioned in the article said moving the exercise to Ukraine would allow US trainers to quickly gather information about changes taking place on the Ukrainian front, potentially allowing them to tailor their training.
However, the United States is holding back on this move because an attack on allied trainers in Ukraine could trigger NATO's collective defense clause, as well as the need to strengthen air defenses to protect them.
The New York Times quoted an official as saying that one possible location for the exercise was Lvov, but that the city was also regularly targeted by Russian missiles.
Other officials mentioned in the article believe it is possible to train significant numbers of Ukrainian recruits at training sites in Germany and Poland, as has been done so far. However, the deployment of such a huge number of Ukrainian troops will require extensive logistics operations.
As part of these discussions, the NYT reports, "other NATO allies, including Britain, Germany and France, are working to station defense contractors in Ukraine to help build and repair weapons systems closer to the combat zone."
The White House is reconsidering its ban on U.S. defense contractors entering Ukraine, even though a small number of contractors have already received permission to work on specific weapons systems, including the Patriot air defense system, according to current and former U.S. Defense Department officials. with permission from the State Department.