Breaking news
Ukraine's President announces to boost his country's defence spending by an estimated 50%.
| 2014
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Defence & Security News - Ukraine |
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| Monday, August 25, 2014 10:29 AM | |||
| Ukraine's President announces to boost his country's defence spending by an estimated 50% | |||
Ukraine’s
president announced plans Sunday, August 24, 2014, to boost his country’s
defence spending by an estimated 50 per cent. Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko pledged to spend an extra 40 billion hryvnia ($3 billion) by
2017 during a speech marking Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991. |
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 Ukrainian Independance Day 2014 |
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Ukraine
is marking its independence day with a military parade in Kiev intended
to send a symbolic message to Russia, which annexed Crimea earlier this
year and has actively supported separatist militias.
President Petro Poroshenko, addressing a highly militarized independence rally in Kiev, vowed to defeat the rebels and safeguard Ukraine's border with Russia by sharply raising defense spending for the coming three years. He warned that Ukraine too often in history had been caught by surprise from eastern invasions. The rebels responded with their own show of strength in their stronghold of Donetsk, parading dozens of captured soldiers through the streets as bystanders tossed eggs and bottles at them. The insurgents also dumped battle-scarred Ukrainian military equipment on a central square, a bold rebuke to Kiev's announcement that it plans to strengthen its military. The EU support for Ukraine was evident with the the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Kiev on Saturday. She warned Russia of more sanctions and punitive measures if things do not improve, referring to Russia's continued support to the separatist rebels. Ms
Merkel, in her talks with the Ukraine president, urged for a bilateral
ceasefire and effective border controls to end the fighting between rebels
and government troops. |
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