Polish Radio
September 15, 2014
NATO arms deliveries to Ukraine ‘already under way’
NATO countries are supplying Ukraine with weapons, its defence minister says, as US-led military exercises involving 15 countries are set to begin near the Ukrainian border with Poland, Monday.
Ukrainian
Moscow on 12 Serptember accused the European Union of undermining the peace process in eastern Ukraine, hours after the bloc imposed new sanctions on large Russian energy and defence companies.
“I have no right to disclose any specific country we reached that agreement with,” Ukrainian defence minister Valery Heletey said on Sunday, “but the fact is that those weapons are already on the way to us,” the Ukrainian Unian news agency reports him as saying.
“To stop Putin we need weapons,” he said.
Poland’s defence minister Tomasz Siemoniak, however, earlier expressed his “surprise” after a Ukrainian presidential advisor said last week that arms deliveries had been discussed at the recent NATO summit in Wales.
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Minister Siemoniak did say, however, that the Kiev government was free to agree arms deals with whom it chooses and Poland would comply if a request was made.
“If Ukraine expresses willingness to place an order, our defence industry will certainly be ready to comply,” he said.
Meanwhile, troops from 15 nations, including Poland, will begin training exercises near Lviv, western Ukraine, on Monday.
Around 1300 soldiers from Azerbaijan, Britain, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Poland Romania, Spain and the US will be taking part in the ‘Rapid Trident 2014′ exercises, ending on 26 September.
The annual exercise, to take place in the Yavoriv training centre near Ukraine’s border with Poland, was initially scheduled for July, but was delayed due to escalating fighting in the east of the country between Ukraine armed forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Despite a ceasefire agreed on 5 September, fighting has continued in the Donetsk region, with its troops repelling an attack on a regional airport over the weekend.
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National Radio Company of Ukraine
September 16, 2014
Rapid Trident 2014 exercise officially open at Yavoriv military range in Lviv region
The Rapid Trident 2014 international tactical exercise officially opened at the Petro Sahaidachny Army Academy’s International Peacekeeping and Security Center International Center in Lviv region on September 15.
“These exercises are the largest event of military cooperation between Ukraine and its partners this year. Representatives of 15 countries arrive for the exercises, and they will be attended by about 1,200 soldiers and about 140 pieces of equipment,” the exercise commander from the Ukrainian side, Colonel Oleksandr Sivak, said.He said that the exercises were earlier planned for July, but had been moved to September due to the anti-terrorist operation.
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