26 February 2015, 00:57 GMT
Georgia’s ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, recently appointed a non-staff adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, broke the news in comments broadcast live by Kiev’s Channel 5 Television.
“We are pushing toward receiving defensive weapons from the United States. The public opinion is on our side,” he said.
“The weapons will save thousands of Ukrainian lives,” he added.
In Washington the House committee's leaders have introduced legislation that would authorize the Pentagon to provide training and defensive lethal aid to Ukraine.
Right now, the US military technically can only provide coaching or mentoring, because formal training would require congressional authorization.
