The US Military Is Going Forward With A Huge Training Exercise In Ukraine

The U.S. military has no plans to cancel a huge training exercise set to take place in western Ukraine in mid-September, despite a tense situation still remaining in the east of the country.

Exercise Rapid Trident 2014 will take place Sep. 15-26 at a training center near Yavoriv, with 1,300 troops participating from the U.S., Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, along with NATO representatives.

The exercise, taking place far from contested areas in the east such as Donetsk and Mariupol, will not involve any live-fire, a statement from European Command said. The statement also made clear the exercise was planned long before clashes between Ukraine military troops and pro-Russian separatists took place.

Roughly 200 soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based out of Vicenza, Italy, will be taking part, according to The Washington Times. The same unit took part in unscheduled training exercises in Poland back in April.