The Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has met with US President Barack Obama at the White House.<br /><br />Obama pledged his support, saying: “as you saw in Congress today you have a strong bipartisan support here in the United States and the people of America stand with people of Ukraine “<br /><br />The US is to provide 53 million dollars (41 million euros) in “non-lethal” aid but Obama stopped short of granting Poroshenko’s request for lethal military aid to fight separatists.<br /><br />Obama said the US would continue to mobilise the international community to reach a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine.<br /><br />Earlier, the Ukrainian president was greeted with applause and standing ovations when he addressed the US Congress.<br /><br />He pushed for further sanctions against what he called “the aggressor” as well as asking for weapons for Ukrainian soldiers.<br /><br />“They need more military equipment, please understand me correctly. Blankets, night vision goggles are also important but one cannot win the war with blankets,” Poroshenko said.<br /><br />After his speech, the Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill authorising military aid including lethal aid. However it is not clear when and if the bill will come up for a vote in the US Senate<br /><br />Poroshenko told reporters he was satisfied with the assistance that Washington was giving to Ukraine.
