UKRAINIAN war games exercises with the United States and other Nato allies are an essential step towards European integration, a top military commander said on Monday.

Some 6,000 soldiers from 15 countries are involved in the Rapid Trident exercises in western Ukraine, which runs until October 1.

Brigadier General Vladyslav Klochkov, who is leading the operation, said the drills were an important step towards Ukraine’s European integration.

“The Ukrainian military, which has been holding back Russian aggression for eight years, will share its unique combat experience with its international colleagues,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently returned from Washington, where he pressed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to help speed up the country’s integration into both Nato and the European Union.

Membership of the neoliberal bloc was one of the key factors of the 2014 Maidan coup, during which Brussels supported the ousting of Ukraine’s democratically elected government.

In her state of the EU address in Strasbourg last week, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen hinted that the formation of a so-called EU army may be on the table at a defence summit to be held in Paris next year.

Ms von der Leyen, a former German defence minister, said it was time for Europe to “step up to the next level” and act independently from the US military.

But the plans are in reality driven by Nato, which has been stoking up tensions in the region with some 28,000 troops mobilised from Belarus to the Black Sea as part of its recent Euro Defender 2021 exercises.

In May the EU authorised the US, Canada and Norway to join its Military Mobility project, allowing their troops “unhindered” movement within the bloc.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the move would “make EU defence more efficient and … strengthen our security” by speeding up the transfer of armies across the continent.