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YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The Ukrainian parliament approved a bill allowing foreign troops intothe country toparticipate ina number ofjoint military exercises withthe Ukrainian Armed Forces in2015. “Armenpress” reports, citing “Interfax”, 238 deputies voted in favor of the bill. The author of the bill is the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
Ukraine is planning tohold three joint exercises withUS troops— Fearless Guardian 2015, Sea Breeze 2015 and Saber Guardian/Rapid Trident 2015, and two joint drills withPoland— Secure Skies 2015, and Law and Order 2015. The exercises will be held from November 23 to December 20. 350 American and 100 Canadian soldiers will participate in the exercises.
A number ofwestern nations already provide Ukraine withnon-lethal military aid. The US Congress has authorized President Barack Obama tosend lethal aid aswell, butthe president has so far been reluctant todo so.
The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Poland have also expressed their intention tosend military advisers toUkraine totrain local troops.
In early March, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the United States had already deployed military instructors toUkraine fora joint training mission.
On Tuesday, US Army Europe Commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges reportedly said that the training ofthree Ukrainian army battalions had been delayed inorder togive more time forthe implementation ofthe ceasefire agreements betweenKiev and east Ukraine's independence supporters.
Photo byReuters