Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Thursday asked the US Congress for more support to fight the rebels in his country's east.
While addressing a joint session of US Congress, the Ukrainian leader said his soldiers "urgently" needed more military equipment, both "lethal and non-lethal", Xinhua reported
"Blankets, night vision goggles are also important, but one cannot win the war with blankets," he said. "Even more, we cannot keep the peace with a blanket."
Poroshenko, who is on his first visit to the US, is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House Thursday afternoon.
Washington has committed to providing $116 million in aid to Ukraine's security forces, including body armour, helmets, vehicles, night and thermal vision devices, heavy engineering equipment, advanced radios, patrol boats, tents, counter-mortar radars and uniforms, the White House said.
In his remarks, Poroshenko vowed to build a "strong" and "modern" army for his country in the coming years.
"With this in mind, I strongly encourage the United States to give Ukraine a special security and defence status which reflect the highest level of interaction with non-NATO allies," he said.
Kiev is seeking NATO membership, but the issue was not raised at a NATO summit held earlier this month in Wales, Britain.
Poroshenko also urged the US to be "forceful" and "stand by its principles" in imposing further sanctions against Russia, which he called "the aggressor" of eastern Ukraine.
The US and European Union expanded their sanctions last week against Russia's defence, banking and energy sectors to punish what they called Moscow's continuing destabilising act in Ukraine' s east.
Poroshenko told US lawmakers that he was ready to offer the rebels "more rights than any part of Ukraine had ever had in the history of nation".
The Ukrainian parliament Tuesday approved two bills offering major concessions to independence-seeking insurgents and more autonomy to the eastern region, where about 3,000 people have been killed in the unrest raging since mid-April.
