National Radio Company of Ukraine
August 18, 2014
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urges NATO, EU to help Kyiv in fighting in east
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has urged the European Union and NATO to provide Kyiv with military assistance in fighting illegal armed formations in the country’s east, Deutsche Welle reports.
He described a threat of Russian incursion into Ukraine as “more than serious” and the actions of Ukrainian military in eastern Ukraine as “more than proportionate.”
At the same time, Klimkin refuted accusations of the Ukrainian military opening fire at Russian territory. He repeated the claims that the militants, not government troops are destroying residential areas in Donbas by artillery.
The minister also felt that NATO should develop a new strategy regarding Ukraine.However, he ruled out the possibility of Ukraine’s accession to NATO in the near future.
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Ukrinform
August 18, 2014
Turchynov vows to ratify association agreement with EU soon
KYIV: The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will ratify the Association Agreement with the European Union in the near future.
Verkhovna Rada Chairman Oleksandr Turchynov said this in an interview with Baltic news agency BNS, the press service of the Ukrainian parliament reported.
“The Ukrainian people have made their choice – European and Euro-Atlantic integration, and no aggression from Russia will stop us,” the speaker said.
Turchynov is attending a conference of parliamentary speakers of the Nordic and Baltic countries in Palanga, Lithuania, on August 17-19.
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National Radio Company of Ukraine
August 18, 2014
10,000 personnel involved in counterterrorism operation
Almost 10,000 Interior Ministry troops and National Guard personnel are taking part in the operation in Donbas, Ukraine’s interior minister, Arsen Avakov, has said.
“The National Guard and Interior Ministry’s combined force in the zone of the counterterrorism operation has increased to almost 10,000. It consists of 25 Interior Ministry battalions, joined by volunteers, plus combined detachments, the National Guard’s regular special units and volunteer battalions of the National Guard, including the “Donbas” battalion and the General Kulchytsky battalion (former 1st and 2nd reserve formations),”Avakov wrote on Facebook on August 17.
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