US Ambassador in Kiev: Ukraine will soon receive new military batch of military aid from the US
US Ambassador in Kiev Geoffrey Pyatt stated that a fresh batch of military aid will arrive in Ukraine in the coming days, Radio Liberty reported.
"And I'm very proud of what has been achieved – and our military exercise in Yavoriv, and modern equipment, over a thousand night vision devices. There will be new supplies in the coming days," the Ambassador said.
While answering the question of whether or not the US will provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, such as the Javelin anti-tank missile systems, Pyatt responded “Ukraine has a powerful defense industry and the ability to produce its own ammunition. I hope that, thanks to the cooperation between our industries in the coming months and years, the power of Ukraine’s defense industry will be strengthened.”
Pyatt, who will soon leave his post in Kiev to take the position as Ambassador to Greece, praised Ukraine for what it has accomplished over the last three years.
"I think having survived 2014 -- the invasion of Crimea, the [deadly] shootings on the Maidan, the collapse of the [Ukrainian] hryvnya and the financial system -- Ukraine can survive anything if it got through 2014," Pyatt explained.
The Ambassador, however, stressed that much work still needs to be done in Ukraine’s fight against corruption, saying that its "one of the major challenges that still stands before Ukraine and the Ukrainian people."
"I think one of my regrets is that the [Ukrainian] government, the [Ukrainian] presidency, were not able to move more quickly against the cancer of corruption," he said.
Pyatt will be replaced by Marie Yovanovitch.