Ukraine's government has tasked acting Defense Minister Mykhaylo Koval with signing an agreement to create the joint brigade.
Koval said yesterday that he expects an agreement to be signed next month.
He said that by working jointly with NATO members Poland and Lithuania, Ukraine's military could bring its performance up to NATO standards.
He said the Ukrainian part of the joint brigade will be based in the western city of Lviv. It will perform joint tasks and participate in peacekeeping missions.
The announcement comes amid tensions between Russia and the West over the crisis in eastern Ukraine. Poland and Lithuania have long pushed for closer military ties with Ukraine.
Russia has said Moscow's big concern is that Ukraine will eventually join NATO.
Multiply reports of explosions in #Donetsk & #Slovyansk as Ukrainian army moves on w/ another attempt to push back against pro-Russia rebels
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) May 28, 2014
Strelkov's order to execute two rebels in Slavyansk for looting, based on a Soviet decree from 1941. Note the stamp. pic.twitter.com/B0EBTRyYvv
— max seddon (@maxseddon) May 28, 2014
Read the entire article here
Pro-separatist miner rally in #Donetsk. Few hundred in attendance pic.twitter.com/ZJELMTGSPE
— Courtney Weaver (@courtneymoscow) May 28, 2014
Chechens tell @courtneymoscow Kadyrov sent them to Ukraine: http://t.co/Z2ut65RP5Z Kadyrov denies on Instagram: http://t.co/XfCg2beKYG
— max seddon (@maxseddon) May 28, 2014
Lukashenko even calls Poroshenko and congratulates his victory and offers support
— bruce springnote (@BSpringnote) May 28, 2014
In a statement posted on his Instagram account today, Kadyrov said two-thirds of the 3 million Chechens live outside Russia's North Caucasus Republic, so he "can't and mustn't know where each of them goes."
"If the Ukrainian authorities want so much to see 'Chechen units' in Donetsk, why go to Donetsk if there is a good highway to Kyiv?" he also said.
CNN has broadcast footage from Donetsk in which rebel fighters admit they are from Kadyrov's security forces.
The Donetsk mayor has said he believes there were Chechens among fighters wounded in fighting at the city's airport on May 26.
Russian opposition leader Boris Nemstov has alleged that the Chechens were sent to Donetsk with the knowledge of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
1 of Russian arms channels from Crimea to E.Ukraine, busted by SBU 3 days ago in Zaporizhia http://t.co/2Z9qvtUyFg pic.twitter.com/WtCfG3G18K
— Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) May 28, 2014
#Ukraine arms firm balances between political masters in Kiev, biggest customer in #Russia and pro-Russia separatists http://t.co/oT8y2hCQAh
— Thomas Grove (@tggrove) May 28, 2014