The U.S. Senate approved increasing up to $300 million and significantly expand assistance to Ukraine’s security sector in the U.S. defense budget for 2020, the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA said on Friday.
Senators included about $300 million in new spending for security cooperation funds for additional training, equipment, and advisory efforts to build the capacity of Ukraine’s armed forces.
A draft law has been providing to send 100 million dollars. with $ 300 million exclusively for lethal weapons.
It is proposed to expand the direction of US assistance in strengthening the defense capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by including coastal defenses, anti-ship missiles, and systems that enhance the effectiveness of command and control, in particular, air defense and coastal defense.
The law on the 2020 U.S. budget for the needs of national defense will come into force after its adoption by the House of Representatives and after it is signed by the president of the United States.
Washington’s assistance escalated under the Trump administration, which agreed to provide the Ukrainians with more advanced lethal weapons like anti-tank missiles, a move that his predecessor in the White House wouldn’t take.