MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Ukraine passed a law on sending troops abroad not to legalize their participation in hostilities in Russia or other countries but to receive weapons from partners, an adviser in Vladimir Zelensky’s office said.

"There is no hidden agenda here. It has nothing to do with combat operations in the Kursk Region or anything like that. The law is needed to legalize visits by the military to partner countries to obtain weapons that might be needed. We have ships, corvettes but we need a legislative groundwork to take them," Sergey Leshchenko said on Ukrainian television.

He noted that such visits to partner countries by the Ukrainian military are secret. "We will not disclose all possible options, including relevant operations carried out by special services to replenish our combat arsenals," he said, adding that the law is purely technical in nature. However, he noted, it has sparked speculation that Kiev would be tempted to use its forces in new areas.

On March 17, Zelensky signed a law bestowing the president with the right to send troops to other countries amid martial law. The new legislation says that Ukrainian troops can be dispatched to other countries and be present there "with the aim of carrying out operations linked with ensuring national security and defense, repelling and deterring armed aggression against Ukraine, defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity."