Trump requests review of USD 250 mln program for Ukrainian military

U.S. President Trump has asked his national security team
to review a USD 250 mln funding program for the Ukrainian military, a senior
White House official told the politico.com news site on Aug. 28. For the 2019
fiscal year, U.S. legislators allocated these funds as part of the Ukraine
Security Assistance Initiative to pay for weapons, training, equipment and
intelligence support. Specifically, Congress set aside USD 50 mln for weaponry,
the news site reported.

The senior White House official said President Trump
wants to ensure U.S. interests are being prioritized when it comes to foreign
assistance and is seeking assurances that other countries are “paying their
fair share.” Defense Secretary Mark Esper and National Security Adviser John
Bolton are among the officials reviewing the Ukraine security funding.

Zenon Zawada: We are
confident this review is directly related to Bolton’s visit this week to Kyiv
to persuade Ukrainian authorities not to sell sensitive military technologies
to the Chinese. This week, we speculated on what means the U.S. could use to
prevent the sale of a controlling stake in Motor Sich
(MSICH UK), a leading aeronautics engine producer, to the Chinese. Now it’s
apparent that defense funds could be withheld.

When Trump decided in 2017 to authorize lethal
defensive weapons to the Ukrainians, it confirmed that he had ceded his foreign
policy to the anti-Putin hawks of the Republican Party. These hawks, led by
Bolton, still control Trump’s foreign policy and will not relax on Russia. At
the same time, a shift has occurred in recent years among the same hawks in
recognizing China as an equal threat to U.S. interests as Russia, if not
greater.

Even if Ukrainians agree to block the sale, a
pragmatic solution to the future of Motor Sich is lacking. The company
desperately needs new markets after the loss of Russia as its major client.
Without China, all that’s left are the limited markets of the Arab world and
Africa. U.S. defense contractors are unlikely to get involved.