Ukraine in Arabic | Ukraine expects to become a major non-NATO ally in 2014
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Ukraine may be granted a status of a US non-NATO ally this year, Ukraine’s parliament-appointed Minister of Justice Pavlo Petrenko said on Tuesday, adding that this issue would be in focus of a forthcoming meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and US President Barack Obama.
“Due to the situation our country is currently in, we have a perspective of being granted the status of a US ally rather promptly. I think this will take place already this year,” he told a briefing. According to Petrenko, this status will make it possible for Kiev to dramatically expand military-technical cooperation and “obtain a mechanism allowing to buy weapons” that Ukraine needs.
"It's currently a pre-election period in the United States, therefore the Senate sessions, at which such a decision [on granting Ukraine the status of a major non-NATO ally] could finally be taken, are not expected in the near future. The closest [session is expected] in November. We hope that in November the Senate will be able to approve such a resolution as a whole", Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebyinis said.
