KIEV, Aug. 29 – President Viktor Yushchenko will ask the government to earmark at least 5 billion hryvnias, or about $1 billion, to purchase new kinds of arms in 2009, a top official said Friday.

The request comes amid rising tensions in the region following Russia’s invasion into Georgia, an ally of Ukraine, earlier this month. The tensions further increased after Russia had recognized Georgia’s two breakaway enclaves as independent states.