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Ukrainian president asks U.S. Congress for more support
Last Updated: 2014-09-19 03:44 | Xinhua
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (front) addresses a joint session of U.S. Congress in the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., the United States, Sept. 18, 2014. Petro Poroshenko on Thursday asked U.S. Congress for more support to fight the rebels in the country's east. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday asked U.S. Congress for more support to fight the rebels in the country's east.

While addressing a joint session of U.S. Congress, the Ukrainian leader said his soldiers "urgently" need more military equipment, both "lethal and non-lethal."

"Blankets, night vision goggles are also important, but one cannot win the war with blankets," he said. "Even more, we cannot keep the peace with a blanket."

Poroshenko, who is on his first visit to the United States, is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House Thursday afternoon.

Washington has committed to providing 116 million dollars in aid to Ukraine's security forces, including body armor, helmets, vehicles, night and thermal vision devices, heavy engineering equipment, advanced radios, patrol boats, tents, counter-mortar radars and uniforms, the White House said.

In his remarks, Poroshenko vowed to build a "strong" and " modern" army for his country in the coming years.

"With this in mind, I strongly encourage the United States to give Ukraine a special security and defense status which reflect the highest level of interaction with non-NATO allies," he said.

Kiev is seeking NATO membership, but the issue was not raised at a NATO summit held early this month in Wales, Britain.

Poroshenko also urged the U.S. to be "forceful" and "stand by its principles" in imposing further sanctions against Russia, which he called "the aggressor" of eastern Ukraine.

The U.S. and European Union expanded their sanctions last week against Russia's defense, banking and energy sectors to punish what they called Moscow's continuing destabilizing act in Ukraine' s east.

Poroshenko told U.S. lawmakers that he was ready to offer the rebels "more rights than any part of Ukraine had ever had in the history of nation."

The Ukrainian parliament on Tuesday approved two bills offering major concessions to independence-seeking insurgents and more autonomy to the eastern region, where about 3,000 people have been killed in the unrest raging since mid-April.

 

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