Ukraine to boost defence spending

Ukraine’s president has vowed to boost military spending by 40 billion hryvnia (€2.25bn) in the next three years as government forces seek to overpower pro-Russian separatists in the east.

President Petro Poroshenko made his pledge during a speech marking Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Speaking to a crowd of thousands in Kiev’s Independence Square, Mr Poroshenko said the country would increase military spending by €2.25bn by 2017. The Ukrainian defence ministry said its existing 2014 budget is €1.1bn.

Ukraine’s military has pleaded for more resources to oust pro-Russian rebels, who still hold two major cities in the east, Donetsk and Luhansk.

The United Nations estimates that the eastern fighting has claimed 2,000 lives since April.