Ukraine's Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak speaks during a news conference after a meeting with Canada's Defence Minister Rob Nicholson in Kiev, December 8, 2014. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine's defence minister called on Friday for a doubling of the military budget next year to allow the army to buy weapons abroad and better equip itself to fight Russian-backed separatists in the east.
Numbers of soldiers serving in the east, where government forces have been battling separatists since April, would also be increased to a quarter of a million next year from 232,000 currently, the minister, Stepan Poltorak, told parliament.
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