Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Friday that Kiev was involved in direct negotiations on the purchase of foreign weapons
KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Friday that Kiev was involved in direct negotiations on the purchase of foreign weapons.On Thursday, the Ukrainian parliament passed a bill that would allow the Ukrainian Defense Ministry to purchase foreign military goods directly, without mediation from state defense concern Ukroboronprom. This decision was supported by 236 parliamentarians and needed at least 226 votes to pass.
"This bill creates absolutely new opportunities for our cooperation. That means it creates an opportunity, as in any NATO country, to just simply buy weapons in accordance with clear logic. By the way, not only from the Unites States, there are nuances. We are now conducting such negotiations," Klimkin said, asked how the draft legislation would affect the cooperation between Ukraine and the United States in regard to armaments.
According to Klimkin, direct arms purchases from abroad will help the Ukrainian army to enhance its defense capabilities.
In 2018, Ukraine received more than $40 million in lethal weapons and other military assets from the United States, Lithuania, the United Kingdom and Canada, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff.
Russia has repeatedly warned Western states against supplying arms to Ukraine, saying that this would only escalate the Donbas conflict and hinder the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
Many European politicians have also expressed opposition to supplying arms to Ukraine. Former Chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and incumbent German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said that giving Ukraine weapons was a very risky and counterproductive way of resolving the crisis.
