MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Kiev and Washington do not currently discuss the supplies of lethal weapons, however, Ukraine expects that the United States will provide Kiev with defensive weapons and that the relevant decision will be taken this year.
"As a military man I say that today the term 'defensive weapons' is quite relative… The Russian position is clearly determined — we strongly oppose weapons supplies to the country mired in civil war," Klintsevich said.
According to Klintsevich, Poroshenko "is sly" by asking Washington to provide defensive weapons and not lethal ones.
Earlier in June, Poroshenko said that he negotiated defensive weapons with US President Donald Trump during his recent visit to Washington.
In early May, the US Senate approved the draft federal budget until September 30, 2017, in which the country continues to provide financial assistance to Ukraine in the amount of at least $410 million, including military support. It is noted that the Pentagon may spend $150 million on "providing assistance, including (military) training, equipment, lethal weapons for defense purposes, logistics assistance," as well as intelligence community assistance for the military and national security forces of Ukraine.
The majority of European politicians spoke against the supply of arms to Ukraine. For example, former Foreign Minister of Germany and now German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier previously stated that the supply of arms to Ukraine is a very risky and counterproductive way out of the crisis. The chairman of the NATO military committee Gen. Peter Pavel said that he did not see the need for the supply of lethal weapons to Kiev, because it "will only increase the suffering" of people.
