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Poroshenko: Ukraine Receives US Javelin Systems


FILE - Caught at the moment of main motor ignition, a Javelin self-guided missile streaks towards it's target during maneuvers in Alaska, US.
FILE - Caught at the moment of main motor ignition, a Javelin self-guided missile streaks towards it's target during maneuvers in Alaska, US.

Ukraine has received the first U.S. Javelin missiles and launch units, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Monday.

In March the U.S. State Department approved the possible sale of Javelin systems to Ukraine at an estimated cost of $47 million.

"I can confirm that the long-awaited weapon arrived in the Ukrainian army" Poroshenko said on Facebook.

Kiev and Washington believe that the Javelin system will help Ukraine build its long-term defense capacity.

The United States has been one of Kiev's staunchest supporters since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the subsequent outbreak of fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region that has killed more than 10,000 people.

But the decision to provide lethal aid was sensitive and Russia has repeatedly said supplying weapons to Ukraine would further destabilize the situation by encouraging Kyiv to use force.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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