Ukraine president urges US support

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has urged the US to provide military assistance to his country to counter pro-Russian eastern separatists.
In an address to a joint session of Congress, he said ill-equipped young Ukrainian servicemen were fighting a "war for the free world".
President Obama - along with many other Western leaders - has condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine.
But he stressed that military support will only include non-lethal equipment.
Poroshenko told the joint session of Congress in Washington that Ukrainian government forces needed more equipment - both lethal and non-lethal.
"Blankets and night-vision goggles are important, but one cannot win the war with blankets," he said, to applause.
He accused Russia of being motivated by an "imperial mindset" and "nostalgia for the Soviet Union" in its annexation of Crimea in March and by supporting the separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Poroshenko earlier held talks at the state department in Washington with Secretary of State John Kerry.
More than 3,000 people have died in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian rebels in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions since April.
A fragile ceasefire agreed on 5 September is holding, despite accusations of shelling by both sides.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's MPs approved a bill granting self rule to parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions - a move described as "capitulation" by some lawmakers.

PUTIN 'THREAT TO EU'
The EU has refused to comment on a report that Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly threatened that he could send troops not only to Kiev but also to several EU capitals in Eastern Europe "within two days".
Putin allegedly mentioned the Baltic cities of Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn, as well as Warsaw (Poland) and Bucharest (Romania). These countries are Nato members.
Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung says it has a leaked document showing that Mr Putin made the threat to Mr Poroshenko, and the Ukrainian leader then passed on the comments to EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the weekend in Kiev.
The document is an internal report by the EU's External Action Service, the paper says.
When asked to comment at a news briefing, the EU Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde said: "We will not conduct diplomacy via the media or discuss extracts of our confidential conversations.
"What matters to the European Union and to the Commission is creating lasting peace and prosperity in Ukraine. We have indeed seen those reports."
She neither confirmed nor denied the veracity of the quotes.
On 1 September Putin was quoted as telling Mr Barroso that he could "take Kiev in two weeks". The comments were quoted by Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.

CANADIAN SUPPORT
Poroshenko arrived in the US from Canada.

Addressing the Canadian parliament on Wednesday, Poroshenko said Ukraine had "crossed the Rubicon" by ratifying a day earlier the association and free trade agreement with the EU.
"This was Ukraine's last 'farewell' to the Soviet Union," he said to loud cheering and applause from Canadian lawmakers.
The association agreement aims to bring Ukraine closer to the EU and away from Russia's sphere of influence.
The deal lies at the root of Ukraine's crisis. It was former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign it last November that triggered mass protests and his eventual fall from power.