Poland asks to buy Tomahawk missiles from US for new submarines
WARSAW, March 12 (Reuters) - Poland's Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said on Thursday he has asked the United States whether the European nation could buy Tomahawk missiles for its new submarines.
"One of the capabilities we want them (the submarines) to have is cruise missiles," Siemoniak told public radio, following a report by daily newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Siemoniak also said around 10,000 NATO soldiers will take part in military exercises in Poland this year, among them around 5,000 members of the so-called Spearhead, the newly created NATO quick-reaction force.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Lithuania has marked the 25th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in celebrations overshadowed by Moscow's intervention in Ukraine.
Lithuanian independence leader Vytautas Landsbergis told lawmakers on March 11 not to take freedom for granted or "our success story may soon become a temporary success story."
Current President Dalia Grybauskaite urged Lithuanians to show strength and courage as "the rattle of the guns is heard" from the east.
Lithuania, now a member of NATO and the European Union, became the first Soviet republic to declare independence on March 11, 1990.
But it only achieved its freedom over a year later after a failed communist coup in Moscow.
Based on reporting by AP
Barring any major developments, that ends the live blogging for today.
New on our Transmission blog: 'Crimea' Filmmaker's Propaganda Dreams Come True
The filmmaker behind a Kremlin-backed program making headlines for its revelations about Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine is on the record asserting that propaganda and journalism are indistinguishable.
Andrei Kondrashev appeared to have made the remarks to RFE/RL's Russian Service around the time he was embarking on the "full-length documentary" for Russian state TV whose promotional clips have garnered considerable attention in the past week.
Latest:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $17.5 billion bailout of Ukraine.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on March 11, the new four-year aid program "will support immediate economic stabilization in Ukraine and a set of deep and wide-ranging policy reforms aimed at restoring robust growth over the medium term and improving living standards for the Ukrainian people."
Earlier on March 11, Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko said her country expects to receive $5 billion in credit from the IMF in the coming days to boost its international reserves, which are at their lowest level in more than a decade.
The Ukrainian economy is forecast to contract by 5.5 percent in 2015 as government forces fight pro-Russian separatists in the country's east and trade with Russia has almost ceased.
Last week, Ukrainian lawmakers passed austerity measures, including pension cuts and tax increases, intended to help secure the fresh IMF bailout package.
More on the nonlethal aid:
The United States has announced it will send more non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including unarmed drones and Humvee vehicles.
The White House released a statement on March 11 saying Vice President Joe Biden had telephoned Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to inform him of the decision.
Administration officials were quoted as saying the package includes unarmed Raven drones, which can be launched by hand, 30 heavily armored Humvees, and 200 other regular Humvees, as well as radios, counter-mortar radars, and other equipment.
The armored Humvees were expected to be delivered within a few weeks but other equipment will take longer to arrive.
Ukrainian government troops have been fighting pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country.
Kyiv and the West accuse of helping the rebels with weapons and soldiers -- a claim denied by Moscow.