"The West has provided all necessary military aid to Ukraine"

President Petro Poroshenko affirmed on September 21 that Ukraine had received all necessary weapons from Western countries, and warned that forces were ready to defend themselves if a new peace plan signed with separatists failed.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko

The information was revealed by Mr. Poroshenko in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel about his recent trip to the US.

Ukraine's president asserted that among non-NATO countries, his country enjoys the "highest status" in defense cooperation with the United States.

“We have machine guns, tanks, multiple rocket launchers, missiles, artillery and everything necessary to ensure combat capability for such a long time,” Mr. Poroshenko said.

“We have everything we need – intelligence equipment, radars, surveillance equipment and other equipment that can make our weapons dozens of times more effective, modernize them,” the president said, adding that other countries besides the US have offered assistance.

Also in an interview with the Ukrainian press, Mr. Poroshenko affirmed that he would do everything to implement the peace plan that had just been signed, but on the other hand, asked the forces to be ready to defend themselves if the plan failed.

“Ukraine has always done and will continue to do everything possible to implement the peace plan in Donbass,” the president said, adding, “The situation is de-escalating no matter what others say.”

However, “we must be ready to defend our country if the peace plan does not work. Believe me, we have all the means to defend ourselves,” Mr. Poroshenko stressed.

However, speaking earlier, the spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council, Andriy Lysenko, affirmed that Ukraine would not withdraw its forces to allow the creation of a buffer zone as proposed in the peace plan, unless the separatists stopped firing.

“If Ukrainian forces are to withdraw, this must be done simultaneously with the withdrawal of Russian troops,” Lysenko said.

The NATO commander on September 20 affirmed that Russian soldiers “are still present in Ukraine”, and peace in Eastern Ukraine only “exists on paper”.

According to Dan Tri