DHAKA: Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko is to begin a key visit to the US to seek further support to tackle what he describes as Russian aggression.

Poroshenko will hold talks with US president Barack Obama before addressing a joint session of Congress.

Poroshenko is flying to the US from Canada, where he told MPs Ukraine had bid ‘the last farewell’ to the USSR after signing an EU association deal, reports the BBC.

Ukraine accuses Russia of supporting rebels in its east. Moscow denies this.

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.

The unrest in the east followed Russia’s annexation of Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula in March.

BDST: 1312 HRS, SEP 18, 2014