You're reading: Pyatt: US to train Ukrainian military and supply high technology to Ukraine

The United States will train Ukrainian servicemen and supply military high technology to Ukraine, which should help soldiers in Donbas protect themselves, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has said in an interview with the Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper.

No matter what happens to the Minsk agreements, the Ukrainian army should improve its professionalism to be able to effectively defend its territory amid very rapid changes in terms of security, he said.

Pyatt said that Ukrainian security forces faced two challenges, in particular, the need for internal cleansing of corruption within the structures themselves and the task of developing a proper response to the presence of Russia, which has demonstrated its uncompromising militancy and complete disrespect for the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine.

The diplomat said that the United States had provided night vision devices, first aid kits, body armor and military MREs to Ukraine to meet the short-term needs of improving the combat capability of the Ukrainian military.

However, he said, the United States has also developed longer-term assistance programs, which are aimed primarily at retraining and raising the professionalism of Ukrainian military to create what President Petro Poroshenko said he really wants – an army built in line with NATO standards.

Pyatt said that the United States would also deliver military high technology that should help the Ukrainian troops fighting the east to protect themselves. In particular, these are counter-mortar radar systems that will be supplied in the coming months, along with training personnel how to use them, he said.

He noted that Ukrainian army reform was a multi-year project. Pyatt said that the United States and many of its NATO partners would help Ukraine, but all this was an element of a greater task of nationwide renewal.