Ukraine May Receive $500 Million From U.S. To Provide Security, Lethal Assistance

[Purveyor]

U.S. Senators John McCain (R) and Jack Reed (D), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, have announced details of the committee's markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017. The document authorises up to USD 500 million to provide security assistance to Ukraine, including lethal assistance.

Read also John McCain: Ukraine needs US defensive weapons now

The bill restricts half of these funds until the Secretary of Defense certifies that Ukraine has taken substantial action to make defense institutional reforms to fight corruption, increase accountability, and sustain capabilities developed by security assistance efforts.

The overall amount of 2017 defence budget is USD 602 billion.

In 2016, Ukraine's military will receive USD 300 mln in assistance to bolster combat readiness.

http://uatoday.tv/politics/ukraine-may-receive-usd-500-mln-from-u-s-648352.html

[bjo59]

1. Yep, the only money the federal government has to spend is money we give them...

(as well as money they just plain don't have, of course) and it continues to spend that tax money on projects that enrich for-profit corporations. Yet few taxpayers complain. Regime-change and financial takeover of foreign countries continues apace.

[newthinking]

2.  Ukraine Peace Talks Stall While Divisions Within the Country Deepen

 Ukraine Peace Talks Stall While Divisions Within the Country Deepen
 Besides the economic hardship, the country remains at risk of being further divided by Kiev’s illiberal turn.
By James Carden
The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/article/ukraine-peace-talks-stall-while-divisions-within-the-country-deepen/

 The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine met for the 12th time on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing obstacles toward the full implementation of the Minsk cease-fire accords. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was moved to call this latest meeting as a result of a recent flare-up in violence in eastern Ukraine, noted that this latest round of talks was just about as successful as the previous round: not very. While Russia and Ukraine did reach an agreement on the creation of demilitarized zones in areas held by the rebel forces, Steinmeier conceded that “The talks were difficult once again.”

As ever, the principal point of contention between the Russian and Ukrainian sides has to do with the holding of elections in the breakaway “people’s republics.” The position taken by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin is that a full cease-fire must precede any move toward holding new elections. That position, however, happens to contradict what was agreed to under the Minsk protocol. According to the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), it is Kiev that has yet to implement “critical measures” relating to Minsk, including, “the much-awaited parliamentary vote on decentralization.” That vote, which has already been postponed, is an essential part of the Minsk process, and according to the OHCHR, is “to be the precursor to a series of steps toward peace…” (emphasis mine).

Meanwhile the military, economic, and political situation on the ground in the Ukraine worsens by the day. As recently as May 5, the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE reported a “marked increase in violence.” On May 4, in government-controlled Svitlodarsk, the SMM reported “210 undetermined explosions and 580 bursts of heavy-machine gun fire 4-10km south-east and south of its position.” According to UN estimates, the civil conflict in Ukraine has taken the lives of over 9,000 people.