Poroshenko Asks USA to Provide Ukraine with Weapons and Grant Special Partner Status

The Ukrainian army lost 17 soldiers during the truce in Donbas, declared in the framework of the Minsk agreements.

Also 67 servicemen were wounded. This was announced by President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko in his speech in the US Congress, Censor.NET informs.

He stressed that this is the price Ukraine pays for peace. He also urged the United States to assist Ukraine in struggle against the terrorists.

"The war in which Ukrainian soldiers are fighting is the war for the world's freedom," the head of the Ukrainian state said. He recalled that the Budapest Memorandum was signed 20 years ago and Ukraine has refused of possessing the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world in exchange for security guarantees.

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"I want to thank them (the soldiers - Ed.) for their sacrifice. These men (the ATO participants - Ed.) need more weapons both lethal and non-lethal. Do not misunderstand me, we cannot win the war barehanded, we cannot keep the peace with our hands bare. But our goal is not to win the war but to preserve peace," Poroshenko said.

In addition, he urged the United States to grant Ukraine a special status to interact with both the United States and members of NATO.

"I'm asking to grant Ukraine the status of the US partner on security that will provide the highest level of cooperation in the field of security for the country, which is not a member of NATO," Poroshenko said.