Poroshenko to visit U.S. after arms request submitted

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko will visit the
U.S. between Sept. 24 and 27, during which he will address the United Nations
and meet with key authorities, according to Volodymyr Yelchenko, Ukraine’s
Permanent Representative to the UN. He will submit UN resolutions to address
the militarization of Crimea and Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia,
Yelchenko told an Aug. 27 press briefing. 

The Ukrainian government has submitted a request for
purchase of three anti-aircraft defense systems from the U.S. at a value of USD
2.25 bln, Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly told Ukrainian radio
on Aug. 28. “Our needs in the next period, in my view, is the naval space, air
space,” he said. “It’s that without which we simply can’t ensure our country’s
defense.” These military needs were discussed between the two presidents in
Brussels and with John Bolton, the U.S. national security advisor.

Zenon Zawada: We expect
Ukraine will continue to gain U.S. approval for the sale of lethal armaments
(such as this year’s Javelin anti-tank missile systems), which are often
covered at the expense of the U.S. government. Such arms transfers fall in line
with U.S. President Trump’s strategy of generating revenue for American energy
and defense firms.

Though not mentioned by Ukraine’s UN ambassador,
Poroshenko will certainly discuss during his UN visit a peacekeeping mission to
Donbas, the details of which are currently being hashed out by German
Chancellor Merkel and Russian President Putin. We expect an agreement only if
significant concessions are offered to Putin in forming the mission, its
schedule and its authority in fulfilling the Minsk Accords.