Ukrainian President : Kyiv hopes to receive various types of weapons from Washington
At a meeting with US Vice President Michael Pence, during the Munich Security Conference, the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated that Ukraine hopes to receive various types of weapons from the US.
“We had a very detailed meeting with the vice president. He stressed at the outset that Ukraine is a reliable strategic partner of the United States. We firmly hope for cooperation, including in the area of defense, for the supply of all types of weapons to Ukraine,” he said commenting to journalists, broadcast by tv channel 112 Ukraine.
Poroshenko reminded that earlier Ukraine adopted a law allowing the Ministry of Defense to “purchase weapons directly,” without using intermediaries. Poroshenko also stated that at his meeting with Pence the question of coordinating actions in the situation in the Kerch Strait, as well as further efforts to introduce sanctions against Russia, together with the EU.
The Ukrainian President also thanked the American side for additional financial assistance. “I asked to relay our appreciation to the US president, Congress for their part of supporting Ukraine financially. You know that the budget includes more than $700 million of additional assistance for our government,” said the president.
The Ukrainian embassy in the US reported on Saturday evening that US President Donald Trump signed a legislative package approved by Congress that increases financial assistance to Kyiv to almost $700 million in 2019. The estimate of assistance to Ukraine has been increased and approved from the amount of $445.7 million,” stated the embassy. The lion’s share of additional funds (up to $115 million in total) will be directed to providing military and technical assistance to Ukraine as part of the “International military funding” program, said the Ukrainian Embassy to the US.
Thus, taking into account the $250 million previously allocated by the Pentagon, the total amount of assistance will be almost $695.7 million.