"He [US President Barack Obama] told me that he signed an executive order on the delivery of new weapons to Ukraine, that we desperately need, since this is defensive armament, long range counter-battery radar complexes which will allow us to increase the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian army," Poroshenko said in an interview to Ukrainian TV channels.
"The main result is that we moved from a ceasefire regime, after withdrawing troops, enhancing the OSCE role,… to an armistice regime [in Donbass],” Poroshenko said commenting on the Normandy Four talks in Paris on Friday.
Ukrainians are scheduled to vote in local elections on October 25.
The breakaway parts of Donetsk and Lugansk regions plan to hold local elections on October 18 and November 1 respectively.
The self-proclaimed republics have repeatedly stated that the decision to hold elections independently from Kiev was made after the Ukrainian government proceeded to adopt a law on local election without consulting with them, which contradicts the Minsk peace deal.
“This process [of Minsk deal implementation] is not for decades, it is a process that must be completed before the end of the year. If we all work to ensure that they [agreements] are implemented, they will be executed before the end of the year," Poroshenko said.
He added that Ukraine, as well as France and Germany, opposes any changes in the deal.
In February, the Normandy Four group, comprising Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France worked out a ceasefire deal in Minsk, Belarus, signed by Kiev and the Donbass Republics.
