Days ahead of the June 16 Biden-Putin summit in Geneva, the Pentagon announced a $150 million defense allocation for Ukraine to help"bolster its borders against Russia."
A Friday Defense Department statement detailed that the large package for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative includes "training, equipment, and advisory efforts to help Ukraine’s forces preserve the country’s territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO."
The statement further notes that it will fund "counter-artillery radars, counter-unmanned aerial systems, secure communications gear, electronic warfare and military medical evacuation equipment, and training and equipment to improve the operational safety and capacity of Ukrainian Air Force bases."
It's being made available through the State Department's foreign military financing budget, and was previously approved by Congress on a conditional basis for fiscal year 2021, based on whether Ukraine would meet "progress" on ongoing anti-corruption efforts and reforms.
On this front, the Pentagon said it "was able to certify that Ukraine has made sufficient progress on defense reforms this year," according to press secretary John Kirby.
Meanwhile, leaders in Kiev have continued their recent renewed push to be fast-tracked for NATO membership, and all of this will no doubt add to already soaring tensions going into the Biden-Putin meeting.
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