U.S. president signs law allocating USD 300 mln to Ukraine military

U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law on Nov. 25 the revised National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2016. The law authorizes USD 300 mln to the U.S. Defense Department, in coordination with the U.S. State Department, for military and intelligence spending for Ukraine, including USD 50 mln for lethal armaments and counterartillery radars, reported the UNIAN news agency.

Zenon Zawada: The main point is that while these funds are now available, they won’t necessarily be spent on Ukraine as the decision will rest upon the Defense and State departments. In particular, we don’t expect the funds for lethal arms to be spent unless Russia renews its military campaign in Ukraine. We see the odds of that in 2016 as 50/50. Even in that case, the Americans have demonstrated reluctance to provide lethal arms. Therefore, while this is positive for Ukraine’s defense, the availability of the funds, in and of itself, won’t serve as much of a deterrent to Russia.