Ukraine's parliament approves law to increase size of country's armed forces by a third | World Defense

Ukraine's parliament approves law to increase size of country's armed forces by a third

BLACKEAGLE

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Ukraine's parliament passed a law on Thursday to increase the size of the armed forces by a third as Kiev fights pro-Russian separatists in the east, reports today Reuters. The bill was approved with 270 votes in favor, well above the 226 required, and now goes to President Petro Poroshenko, who proposed the measure, to be signed into law.

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According to the bill approved yesterday, Ukrainian armed forces will be lifted from 184,000 to 250,000

The bill, initially proposed by President Petro Poroshenko, was approved by parliament with 270 out of 422 MPs voting in favour. 28 seats of Ukraine’s 450-seat parliament sit vacant because of the conflict with Russia preventing elections in constituencies in Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea.
The bill will now see the legal ceiling on the size of Ukraine’s armed forces lifted from 184,000 to 250,000. This number will allow for 204,000 soldiers and over 40,000 additional personnel to join if called-up.

The law will now be submitted to the Ministry of Defence, who will negotiate the extended share of the national budget required to implement the law. Once given back to be signed by the president the law will come into effect immediately.

Poroshenko’s political partner and current prime minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk highlighted the building of a military strong enough to repel the Kremlin-backed rebels in Donetsk and Luhansk as the top priority for his government, shortly after being elected last autumn.

In December Yatsenyuk estimated that Ukraine’s military defence budget would exceed $3 billion in 2015, adding that five percent of GDP would go into military and defence spending.

(Sources: Newsweek and Reuters)
Ukraine's parliament approves law to increase size of country's armed forces by a third | March 2015 Global Defense Security news UK | Defense Security global news industry army 2015
 

Redheart

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If the goal for increasing the size of their military is to fight and defeat the separatists then I think Ukraine is making a mistake. Since Russia is very much interested in splitting Ukraine in two does Poroshenko and the Ukrainian prime minister believe that a new offensive against the rebels would be any different? Wouldn't Russia opt to openly send their regular troops to finish what they [the Russians] began when they annexed Crimea?
 

timelord731

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If the goal for increasing the size of their military is to fight and defeat the separatists then I think Ukraine is making a mistake. Since Russia is very much interested in splitting Ukraine in two does Poroshenko and the Ukrainian prime minister believe that a new offensive against the rebels would be any different? Wouldn't Russia opt to openly send their regular troops to finish what they [the Russians] began when they annexed Crimea?
I too think that it would be a blunder for them to increase numbers to stop the separatists.
 

Redheart

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Talking about how they'll defeat the separatists when peace is what they should be focusing on? The separatists were accused of being responsible for chaos but when the Ukrainian government plans violence even as a shaky ceasefire holds, the moment they start recruiting soldiers once again the separatists will start fighting. Who then would be held responsible for the escalating violence?
 
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