Defense should be top priority of 2017 budget

16:52, 09.09.2016 1 min read

The top priority spending patterns of Ukraine's 2017 national budget should be national security and defense, Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy has said.

"The top priority issue of forming the budget would be the issue of defense and security. Understanding the difficult situation for Ukrainian citizens and the national budget today, we should make funds for defense and protection of our state a top priority," he said in an interview with Rada television on Friday.

Parubiy predicts that a threat of intensifying hostilities in eastern Ukraine would be kept for next two months, as international society would focus on the presidential election in the United States and events in the European Union.

"All our analysts believe that if Putin wants to intensify hostilities in eastern Ukraine and if he wants to make more aggressive steps, this could happen in September or October," he said.