U.S. defense budget draft for 2019 includes $250 mln for Ukraine – embassy

09:45, 08.05.2018 1 min read

The draft defense budget of the United States for 2019 envisages a provision of security assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $250 million, including $50 million exclusively for the provision of lethal types of weapons of a defensive nature, the Ukrainian embassy to the United States has reported.

"U.S. House of Representatives Armed Forces Committee presented the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Bill envisaging a $250 million security assistance to Ukraine. The sum proposed to be allocated for security assistance to Ukraine, including lethal weapons, is defined at $250 million, which is $100 million more than the Committee proposed to provide this fiscal year," the embassy said on its Facebook page in the early hours of Tuesday.

Some $50 million of the said volume is proposed to channel exclusively for lethal defensive aid, the Ukrainian embassy said.

"The bill is yet to be agreed with the version to be drafted by the U.S. Senate and approved by both chambers of Congress before it is submitted for a president's signature," the message reads.