US Congress approves defense budget for Ukraine

US Congress approves defense budget for Ukraine

The approved draft U.S. defense budget envisions allocating Ukraine lethal weapons.

The draft legislation "authorizes $350 million to provide security assistance to Ukraine, including defensive lethal assistance," the document said.

"The legislation restricts half of these funds until the Secretary of Defense certifies that Ukraine has taken substantial action to make defense institutional reforms critical to sustaining capabilities developed using security assistance," it noted.

In addition, the draft bill envisages allocations of $100 million to Baltic countries to beef up their defenses against possible Russian aggression.