President Obama Offers Security Assistance to Ukraine; Declines "Lethal Aid"

Describing Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko as a "strong friend", U.S. President Barack Obama offered fresh security assistance to the war-stricken nation, but declined to supply any "lethal aid".

In an address Thursday at the White House, after holding talks with visiting President Poroshenko, Obama announced that the United States will be providing an additional $53 million in fresh aid to Ukraine: of which $46 million will be used to boost Ukraine's security and $7 million will be dedicated to humanitarian aid, Voice of America reports.

However, he refrained from conceding to Poroshenko's passionate pleas for more military equipment to Congress early Thursday, Russia Today reports. President Obama assured that the United States would continue to work to mobilize the international community so that the conflict in Ukraine is solved diplomatically, Reuters reports.

He condemned "Russian aggression" in eastern Ukraine. President Obama demanded Russian troops' withdrawal from the Ukrainian territory and said that arms should not be sent across the border from Russia to Ukraine.  "Russia cannot dictate the terms," He assured President Poroshenko.

During the bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, President Obama said to his Ukrainian counterpart: "Congratulations on the excellent work that you've done. You have a strong friend not only in me personally, but I think, as you saw in Congress today, you have strong bipartisan support here in the United States," BBC reports.

After the meeting, President Poroshenko said that he was very pleased with the help that United States has offered and expressed hope that the fragile ceasefire deal in Ukraine would eventually end months of violence leading to peace and stability in the region.