Ukrainian military experts will join a new European initiative aimed at identifying and rapidly addressing gaps in the continent’s defenses, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, Sept 1. The initiative will bring together senior political and military officials from several EU countries, the United Kingdom and Ukraine, with the first discussions expected to begin next week.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Europe is investing more in defence than ever, but spending alone is not automatically a guarantee for success,” Kallas told journalists after a meeting of EU defense ministers in Ireland, as per AFP. “We have not been fast enough to cover the gaps in Europe’s conventional power within NATO,” she added. Kallas said the new initiative would bring together “some of the brightest minds on security and defense” to develop practical solutions to Europe’s defense needs. “The aim is to have some of the brightest minds on security and defence to come together and really provide out-of-the-box solutions,” she said. Ukraine was included because of its extensive battlefield experience after more than four years of full-scale war with Russia, Kallas said. The initiative comes amid growing concern in Europe over Russian “hybrid” operations, including suspected sabotage and other efforts to destabilize countries supporting Ukraine.