NATO states start sending arms to Kiev

Ukrainian Defense Minister Valeriy Heletey has said NATO member states have begun supplying weapons to the country’s forces, despite a truce between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russians.

Heletey made the announcement during an interview with Ukrainian broadcaster Fifth Channel, saying the supply of arms is already underway.

The Ukrainian minister added that the decision to supply arms to Kiev came after he held discussions “in private with the defense ministers of the leading countries of the world” during a recent NATO summit earlier this month.
Heletey, however, did not give any information on what type of weapons are being supplied or which members of the Western military alliance are supplying them.

The arms deliveries come despite a shaky truce between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russians.

Fighting flared up on Saturday in the area of Donetsk airport in eastern Ukraine. The city council said that several residential buildings near the airport were damaged during overnight shelling but reported no casualties.

The ceasefire agreement was reached between Kiev and the pro-Russians on September 5 after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hammered out a compromise deal aimed at ending the heavy fighting.

The Ukrainian military and pro-Russians have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ceasefire since it went into effect.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April.