KIEV, Sept. 6 - More than 40 import contracts on shipments of defensive equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces are currently in place, their total value amounting to $1.5 billion, President Petro Poroshenko said.

"We highly appreciate the support on the part of our Western partners. Now we have more than 40 import contracts on shipments of instruments of defense to the Ukrainian army currently implemented, with their total value reaching $1.5 billion," Poroshenko said in his annual address to Parliament in Kiev on Tuesday.