As the newspaper notes, Democrats are in defense of this amendmentWASHINGTON, October 29.
/tass/. A group of US lawmakers from among the Republicans opposed the inclusion in the final version of the draft defense budget of the country for the 2023 fiscal year (began on October 1) of a provision according to which the American authorities could send Kiev funds from the sale of confiscated assets of the Russian Federation. This is stated in an article published on Friday in the electronic version of The Washington Post.
As the newspaper notes with reference to persons involved in negotiations in Congress, Democrats are in defense of this amendment. In their opinion, if it is not included in the final version of the document, it will "limit the ability of the administration of [US President Joe] Biden to provide assistance to the Ukrainian economy in a difficult situation." "Republicans claim that the amendment has not been fully approved by the relevant committees [in the US Congress]," the article notes.
Republicans point out that this provision should be analyzed by the legal committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate. In addition, opponents of the amendment believe that it has not been sufficiently considered in terms of possible litigation. Republicans instead propose to take additional measures to limit Russia's income from the sale of energy resources, the article says.
The article quotes the words of an assistant to legislators from among the Democrats. He noted that the amendment in question was included in the version of the bill that had previously been approved by the House of Representatives of the US Congress. Therefore, according to him, it should be included in the final version of the document.
The House of Representatives of the US Congress in July approved the draft defense budget of the country for the 2023 fiscal year totaling about $840 billion. The US Senate will also have to approve its own version of the draft defense budget. After that, a commission will be convened to coordinate the details of both projects. Both chambers will again have to vote for the agreed document, only after that it will go to President Joe Biden for signature. Usually, this whole process lasts until autumn or early winter, but due to the November midterm congressional elections, it may be delayed.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. After that, the West imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia and increased arms supplies to Kiev in the amount of billions of dollars.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials have repeatedly drawn attention to the danger of the spread of weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine in other regions. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov warned that the militarization of Ukraine by the West directly threatens European and global security.
