Kiev Dumps Soviet Traditions to Make Its Army More 'NATO-Like'

Poroshenko made the remarks during Monday's meeting with representatives of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's so-called Volunteer Assault Force group.

"During our discussion, I very much liked the initiative to move away from the Soviet army. We need to introduce our own new Ukrainian traditions, including titles for the new Ukrainian military ranks," Poroshenko said.

In this sense, the replacement of the rank of junior lieutenant with the rank of ensign, fully meets both Ukrainian traditions and the structure of the military ranks of NATO countries, according to Poroshenko.

Additionally, he stressed the necessity of replacing colonels with brigadier generals.

"I think that the Ukrainian brigade commanders have long deserved to move from the rank of colonel to the rank of brigadier general. I ask to be given the relevant proposals so as to make amendments to Ukrainian legislation," Poroshenko said.

In a separate development, Ukraine's Presidential Administration tweeted that the country's Defense Ministry has presented a new design for the domestically made uniforms of the Ukrainian armed forces.