Trump 2018 Budget Proposal Set to Cut Over Half of US' Ukraine Funding

© Photo : Facebook / Embassy of Ukraine in the USALeft to right: Ukrainian Ambassador to Ukraine Valeriy Chaly, US Vice President Mike Pence, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, and US President Donald Trump
Left to right: Ukrainian Ambassador to Ukraine Valeriy Chaly, US Vice President Mike Pence, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, and US President Donald Trump - Sputnik International
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President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget proposal is projected to slash aid to Ukraine from $667 million in 2016 to $203 million, the US Department of State said in the Congressional Budget Justification on Foreign Assistance released on Tuesday.

Ukrainian folk dancers perform for Ukrainian and US servicemen in a ceremony for joint-drill exercises between the two countries in Yavoriv polygon, Lviv district, western Ukraine - Sputnik International
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WASHIGTON (Sputnik) — Funding to the Ukraine is expected to drop from $667 million to $203.7 million if Trump’s 2018 budget is passed.

Earlier, an internal memo obtained by the newspaper identified Vietnam, Tunisia, Colombia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Pakistan and Ukraine as countries that would be offered loans to purchase US military equipment, instead of receiving cash grants. The changes could affect the program with a total worth of nearly $1 billion.

In 2017, the Ukrainian military will receive $350 million from the US. The decision was approved by the US House of Representatives in late 2016.
Military spending is a crucial problem for the Ukrainian government, since Kiev does not adhere to the peaceful settlement of the Donbass conflict. Despite a ceasefire, Ukrainian forces continue shelling the self-proclaimed Donbass republics. On May 20, President Petro Poroshenko announced the deployment of T-80 tanks to the conflict zone in Donbass.

A view of the White House in Washington, DC. - Sputnik International
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Kiev is struggling to increase defense spending amid a downturn in the national economy and a skyrocketing foreign debt. Last May, Poroshenko signed the Ukrainian national security strategy. According to the document, Kiev expected to increase its military budget to 5 percent of GDP.

In recent years, the Ukrainian government has been driving up military expenditures. While in 2016 Ukraine’s defense budget was $4.3 billion, it will reach nearly $5 billion this year, which accounts for 5 percent of GDP.

Meanwhile, the economic situation in Ukraine is worsening. In April, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its forecast for Ukrainian GDP growth from 2.9 to 2 percent. The military and political turmoil is also affecting the economy. For example, a blockade of Donbass by Ukrainian radical activists has seriously damaged the country’s energy sector.

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