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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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| Information | | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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25Sep14
United States to provide extra military aid to Ukraine worth $5 million -- Obama
U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered to provide additional military aid to Ukraine worth $5 million, the White House said in a memorandum on Wednesday.
The memorandum says that the U.S. president delegates to Secretary of State John Kerry the authority, under the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961, to implement steps to this end.
The document says that the United States will "provide immediate military assistance for the Government of Ukraine, to aid their efforts to respond to the current crisis" in the east of the country.
It vests the secretary of state with "the authority under section 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the drawdown of up to $5 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense and military education and training to provide immediate military assistance for the Government of Ukraine."
It also says that under the above Act, Kerry is vested with "the authority under section 552(c)(2) of the FAA to direct the drawdown of up to $20 million in nonlethal commodities and services from any agency of the United States Government to provide assistance for the Government of Ukraine, and to make the determinations required under such section to direct such a drawdown."
Last week, during Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's visit to Washington, the Obama administration announced it would provide to Kiev additional assistance worth $53 million. The White House press service said $46 million from this sum would be provided as security assistance to support the Ukrainian armed forces and border guard service. The rest, $7 million will be transferred to international organizations for the provision of humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict in the east of Ukraine.
The White House said the United States transferred to Ukraine bulletproof vests, night-vision devices, communications equipment, automobiles, patrol boats, uniforms, medicaments. Washington does not supply weapons to Kiev.
According to the White House, the United States has allocated some $291 million for the assistance to Ukraine. Kiev has also been given U.S. credit guarantees for $1 million. In accordance with the 2015 draft federal budget, the Obama administration requested an additional 45 million dollars from the Congress to help Ukraine strengthen its self-defense capability and enhance interoperability with the U.S. armed forces and troops of other Western countries.
[Source: Itar Tass, Washington, 25Sep14]
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