‘Kiev discusses with US obtaining military aid intended for Afghanistan’

KIEV (TASS): Ukraine and the United States are negotiating a possible transfer of military aid to the Ukrainian side, which was previously intended for Afghanistan. This was stated by the Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova in an interview published on Saturday on the website of the Ukrainian service “Radio Liberty”.
“We are actively working now, and the Minister [Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba] talked about this during his visit, and this issue is also being actively discussed,” Markarova said, answering the question whether military aid, which was intended Afghanistan, but not in demand there.
Markarova stressed that the question is not what Kiev can get in this case, but what the Ukrainian side needs in this situation. The ambassador noted in this regard that earlier Kiev and Washington signed a five-year agreement, which enables the parties to interact “at a higher strategic level.”
The diplomat also said that Ukraine is working on expanding the list of military assistance to Ukraine from the American side.
At the end of December last year, United States President Joe Biden signed the country’s defense budget for the 2022 fiscal year in the amount of about $ 770 billion.
It is envisaged that Ukraine will be allocated $ 300 million, another $ 150 million will be spent on “security cooperation with the Baltic countries.”