Ambassador: US defense budget for 2025 approved without extension of lend-lease
Kyiv • UNN
The U.S. House of Representatives passes the 2025 defense budget without extending the Ukraine lend-lease. The document contains other important provisions regarding Ukraine, including a ban on recognizing the occupied territories.
The National Defense Authorization Act for 2025 (NDAA) approved by the US House of Representatives does not contain a provision to extend the term of the Ukraine Democracy Protection Act, Ukraine's Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova said on Facebook on Monday, UNN reports.
Details
Markarova noted that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2025 (NDAA). The decision was supported by 281 congressmen, while 140 lawmakers (16 Republicans and 124 Democrats) voted against it. The next step is the approval of the NDAA by the US Senate, which is expected next week.
US House of Representatives passes defense funding billDec 12 2024, 01:20 AM • 13614 views
According to the ambassador, the document contains the following main provisions regarding Ukraine:
- Article 1303 extends the ban on the use of any funds for actions that could lead to the recognition of Russia's sovereignty over the occupied regions of Ukraine;
- Article 1534 instructs the Secretary of Defense to explore the possibility of establishing a center of excellence to support the development and improvement of artificial intelligence-based weapon systems. Among the functions of such a center is to facilitate the Pentagon's cooperation with foreign partners, including Ukraine, to identify best practices, guidelines, standards, and benchmarks;
- Section 6411 instructs the Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of the Treasury to submit a report to the Senate and House Committees on Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, Armed Services, Judiciary, Finance, and Appropriations on the financing of acts of international terrorism by the Russian Federation. This report is unclassified, but may contain classified annexes.
"It is worth noting that funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) for fiscal year 2025 was provided in last year's NDAA in the amount of $300 million," the ambassador emphasized.
"It should also be noted that this year's NDAA bill approved by the Senate contained a provision to extend the term of the Ukraine Democracy Assistance Act, and the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States actively advocated for it, but the bill approved by the House of Representatives did not contain such a provision. The consolidated text of the bill does not include this provision. The Embassy continues to work actively to preserve this mechanism, which is, in particular, provided for in the bipartisan and bicameral "Stand with Ukraine Act", Markarova said.
