Ukrainian president expects deliveries of lethal weapons from US in 2018
Kyiv will receive defensive lethal weapons from the United States in 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
"Our country's military budget will amount to record UAH 86 billion next year. We will receive defensive lethal weapons from our partners in the U.S. And will continue to reinforce the Ukrainian army with latest domestically-manufactured hardware," Poroshenko said on Facebook.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are now among the most efficient ones in Europe, he said.
On December 23, Poroshenko said U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had reaffirmed in a telephone conversation with him that the U.S. would provide defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine.
"Just as we agreed with President Donald Trump calmly and without much noise, Ukraine will receive lethal defensive weapons from the U.S. This principled and long-awaited decision by the American administration was confirmed during my conversation with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday," Poroshenko said on Facebook.