KIEV: Ukraines defense minister said on Sunday that NATO countries were delivering weapons to his country to equip it to fight pro-Russian separatists and stop Russian President Vladimir Putin. <\/p>\n
Valery Heletey told a news conference he had discussed weapons deliveries in bilateral meetings with NATO defense ministers during a NATO summit in Wales on Sept. 4-5. <\/p>\n
NATO officials have said it will not send lethal assistance to non-member Ukraine but member states may do so. <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, a senior Ukrainian official said Kiev had agreed on the provision of weapons and military advisers from several members of the U.S.-led alliance. Four of the five countries named, including the United States, denied this. <\/p>\n
We reached agreements in closed talks, without media, about those weapons that we currently need, said Heletey, who said Ukraine needed weapons that could stop Putin. <\/p>\n
I have no right to disclose any specific country we reached that agreement with. But the fact is that those weapons are already on the way to us thats absolutely true, I can officially tell you, he said. <\/p>\n
Heletey said about 3,500 Russian troops were now on Ukrainian territory with a further 25,000 massed on the Russian side of the joint border. <\/p>\n
Moscow denies accusations by Kiev and its Western backers that it has sent troops and tanks into eastern Ukraine to support separatists in a conflict with Ukrainian forces that has killed more than 3,000 people. <\/p>\n
A ceasefire negotiated by envoys from Ukraine, Russia, the separatists and Europes OSCE security watchdog has been in place in eastern Ukraine since Sept. 5. <\/p>\n
It is broadly holding despite regular but sporadic violations, especially in key flashpoints such as Donetsk. <\/p>\n
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Read the original: KIEV: Ukraines defense minister said on Sunday that NATO countries were delivering weapons to his country to equip it to fight pro-Russian separatists and stop Russian President Vladimir Putin. Valery Heletey told a news conference he had discussed weapons deliveries in bilateral meetings with NATO defense ministers during a NATO summit in Wales on Sept. 4-5. Continue reading
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