Conversion of US Overseas Military Grants Into Loans Looks Plausible - Lawmaker

The information that US President Donald Trump administration can turn aid programs for defense needs to a number of countries, replacing them with loans, looks like truth, seems like Trump's logic, Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the international committee of the Federation Council said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials and internal documents, that Washington could convert programs of overseas military grants to dozens of countries, including Ukraine, into loans. According to unnamed officials, the measure was provided in the draft budget of the Trump administration and may affect aid programs totaling about $1 billion.

"The insider information, which made it to the media, that the United States plans to curtail programs of gratuitous military assistance to a number of countries, replacing them with loans, is quite similar to the truth, because it goes well with Trump's logic. He cuts spending, especially 'ideological' items, and relies on direct benefits for the United States," Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page.

The lawmaker added that this meant that there were no "holy wars" for President Trump, and this, in turn, was really a bad signal for Ukraine, which sees itself on the frontline of the "free world."

Trump's 2018 draft budget is due to be revealed on Tuesday following a partial release in March. The plan provides for a 28 percent reduction in the State Department's spending, while increasing defense spending by 10 percent.

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