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No weapons aid in new $53 million assistance package to Ukraine

A new assistance package for Ukraine announced by the White House Thursday will not include money for weapons.

By Gabrielle Levy
President Barack Obama holds a bilateral meeting with President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine in the Oval Office of the White House September 18, 2014 in Washington, D.C. UPI/Olivier Douliery/Pool
1 of 2 | President Barack Obama holds a bilateral meeting with President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine in the Oval Office of the White House September 18, 2014 in Washington, D.C. UPI/Olivier Douliery/Pool | License Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko got the bad news in person: the White House will refuse to include weapons in its aid package to the embattled nation.

The Obama administration announced $53 million in funding to Ukraine Thursday, the same day Poroshenko delivered an impassioned plea to a joint session of Congress asking for additional U.S. help.

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"Blankets, night vision goggles are also important, but one cannot win the war with blankets," he told lawmakers.

Thursday's package brings the total U.S. assistance to Ukraine to $291 million, plus a $1 billion loan guarantee. Of the $53 million, $46 million will go to non-lethal security assistance and $7 million will go to relief organizations providing humanitarian assistance in Ukraine's east.

Meeting with President Obama Thursday afternoon, Poroshenko thanked the U.S. for "so much support."

"The priority for the Ukrainian people and for the people in the US is peace," he told reporters after the Oval Office meeting.

Obama, meanwhile, assured Poroshenko he would "continue to seek to mobilize the international community" to maintain sanctions on Russia.

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Neither leader answered a shouted question, "Why no lethal arms?"

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