The strategic partnership between Kyiv and Washington is acquiring greater significance and a new content under the current circumstances, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"It is quite natural that the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States has been acquiring a brand new quality and quantitative parameters under these circumstances [the war in Donbas] and manifests itself in various forms and on various levels, from presidents-supreme commanders to soldiers," Poroshenko said at the opening ceremony of the Ukrainian-U.S. military exercises at the Yavoriv range in Lviv region.

The war in Donbas "is not only a battle for independent Ukraine, it is also a battle for freedom and democracy in Europe and worldwide, which demonstrates whether international legal norms are in force and whether one can use force with impunity just because one's hands are itching," Poroshenko remarked.

"Is an 'Anschluss' of Crimea possible? Can ethnic kinship be a reason for unceremonious interference in internal affairs of other states?" Poroshenko wondered.