--- title: Ukrainian Presdient Petro Poroshenko Asks Congress for Weapons description: “One cannot win the war with blankets,” says the Ukrainian president canonical: https://time.com/3398276/ukraine-president-petro-poroshenko-congress-weapons/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-18T15:27:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:38.844Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ukrainian Presdient Petro Poroshenko Asks Congress for Weapons og:description: “One cannot win the war with blankets,” says the Ukrainian president og:url: https://time.com/3398276/ukraine-president-petro-poroshenko-congress-weapons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2568e01287fc5819/6986a412adae444e44545066/poroshenko.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Ukraine President Poroshenko acknowledges applause after addressing joint meeting of Congress in the U.S. Capitol in Washington og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ukrainian Presdient Petro Poroshenko Asks Congress for Weapons twitter:description: “One cannot win the war with blankets,” says the Ukrainian president twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2568e01287fc5819/6986a412adae444e44545066/poroshenko.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ukraine President Asks Joint Meeting of Congress for Lethal Weapons > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: President Poroshenko: Agression is a Threat to Global Security [Watch (HLS stream): President Poroshenko: Agression is a Threat to Global Security](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/beo1FOMM.m3u8) (0:29)  _Published 2014-09-19. Ukranian President: Agression against Ukraine is a threat to glabal security everywhere._ by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 18, 2014 3:27 PM UTC  Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko acknowledges applause after addressing a joint meeting of Congress in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sept. 18, 2014. Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko acknowledges applause after addressing a joint meeting of Congress in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Sept. 18, 2014. Kevin Lamarque—Reuters by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Sep 18, 2014 3:27 PM UTC **Correction appended, September 18** Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine, asked a joint meeting of Congress Thursday for military weapons in the fight against East Ukrainian separatists. “One cannot win the war with blankets,” said Poroshenko to hearty applause. He added that both lethal and nonlethal aid is “urgently needed.” The United States has provided about $60 million in nonlethal aid so far. Poroshenko, who entered the House chamber to a three and a half minute standing ovation, astutely pulled at the heartstrings of Congress, tying Ukraine’s fate to American assistance in the fight, the “forefront of the global fight for democracy.” He also said that the country, like Israel, had the right to defend its territory and that the annexation of Crimea—”one of the most cynical acts of treachery in modern history”—wouldn’t be tolerated. In a speech that lasted over 40 minutes, Poroshenko said the struggle “is not only Ukraine’s war.” He pushed for further sanctions against Russia to “help distinguish between good and evil,” a fund that would aid U.S.-Ukraine economic activity and a special U.S. security status for Ukraine. “The war that these men are fighting today is not only Ukraine’s war,” Poroshenko said. “It is Europe’s, and it is America’s war too. It is the war for the free world.” _Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly reported that Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko gave his remarks to a joint session of Congress. It was a joint meeting._ ## Transcript [ APPLAUSE ] Today, aggression against Ukraine is a threat to the global security everywhere. Hybrid proxy war, terrorism, national radical and extremist movement, the erosion of the national and international agreement, the blurring and even erasing of national identities. All these threats now challenge Europe. 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