WASHINGTON, July 28 (RIA Novosti) - Ten US Congressmen from both the Democratic and the Republican parties introduced into the House of Representatives a legislation to recognize Ukraine as a US military ally, said the press service of one of the authors of the bill, Jim Gerlach, a Pennsylvania Republican and co-chairman of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus.
"The bipartisan legislation we introduced today is another important step towards reaffirming the United States’ commitment to helping our Ukrainian allies develop as a fully democratic nation,” Gerlach said.
Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko had earlier said that Kiev might ask Washington for the status of a major ally outside of NATO.
"Our bill also importantly calls to designate Ukraine as a Major Non-Nato Ally, in order to temporarily provide vital resources and the security NATO offers to member states," Congressman Kaptur said, accusing Russia's President Vladimir Putin of refusing "to quell the instability and violence."
Russia has repeatedly said it was not part of Ukraine's internal conflict and called for a peaceful resolution to the situation.
The United States accused Russia of supplying weapons to independence supporters in southeastern Ukraine, where fighting between the militia and the national special forces has continued since mid-April.
After a Malaysia Airlines plane crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 killing 298 people, the US said the airliner was downed by militia using a missile allegedly brought in from Russia. Moscow said it had not delivered the weapons to Ukraine.
The cause of the tragedy remains unclear and the investigation into the circumstances is still underway, seriously obstructed by continuing clashes between independence supporters and the government forces in the region.
