Kiev: US to Spend $20Mln on Boosting Defences at Ukraine's Eastern, Northern Borders

KIEV (Sputnik) - Ukraine's border service and the US Embassy in Kiev have launched an initiative to strengthen the country's eastern and northern borders, which will receive $20 million in funding from Washington, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs said on Saturday.

"The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and U.S. Embassy Kyiv Ukraine started the project to strengthen the security of the northern and eastern sections of the Ukrainian border. The project begins in January 2022. The overall sum of the assistance will be approximately $20 million," the ministry said in a statement on Facebook.

Ukraine is expected to receive unmanned aircraft systems, special vehicles, as well as video monitoring and communication equipment through this initiative.

NBC News reported on Friday that the administration of US President Joe Biden had prepared $200 million in military assistance but postponed delivering in order to give more time to resolve the ongoing crisis at the border between Ukraine and Russia.

Over the past several weeks, Kiev and some Western countries have accused Moscow of amassing troops near its border with Ukraine. Moscow, for its part, rejected the accusations and alleged that the West wants to use them as an excuse to deploy NATO military equipment near the Russian border.