11:54 05.12.2017

Ambassador Chaly hopes Trump to sign law on allocating $50 mln to Ukraine for lethal weapons before year's end

2 min read
Ambassador Chaly hopes Trump to sign law on allocating $50 mln to Ukraine for lethal weapons before year's end

Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly expects that U.S. President Donald Trump will sign a law on allocating $50 million for lethal weapons to Ukraine by the end of this year; America is providing operational-tactical weapons now.

"I think that this will happen later this year [the signing of the relevant law]. And as for the provision of powerful lethal weapons, this is a separate decision that must be made by the president. All the preparatory procedures have been carried out to date. This is a political decision, and it will be taken in the light of the national interests of the U.S. We hope that our arguments that the provision of such weapons before the presidential election in Russia is very important, and will become an additional lever of influence, will be heard," the ambassador said in an interview with Radio Freedom.

Answering the question whether there are any other contracts regarding the provision of weapons to Ukraine, Chaly replied: "I can only say that all the contracts that exist in the framework of international law. And Ukraine, as a country that duly fulfills the requirements of export control, has the right to purchase weapons. The list is broader, but limited to a tactical type of weapons, lethal including. (...) United States provides weapons, but these weapons are operational-tactical."

Speaking about possible new personal sanctions against Russian oligarchs and the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the diplomat said: "As for January, I will be frank: now there is no clear position as to what sanctions the Congress requires from the executive structures. In January, a specific list of people from the entourage of Putin will be presented to the Congress. They will decide later what to do with this list."

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