U.S. to allocate $ 20 million to Ukraine to strengthen its borders with Russia and Belarus
The United States will allocate $ 20 million for a project to strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian State Border Service on the northern and eastern borders, reported the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
"Today, we have another plan for technical assistance. We have signed a plan for joint actions to implement and improve the capacity of the State Border Service," said the First Deputy of the Head of State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Volodymyr Nikiforenko.
The agreement was signed following Nikiforenko's meeting with representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine and the International Organization for Migration in Ukraine. "Our visit is very timely, as Ukraine is going through difficult times and unprecedented challenges at the borders," said Sarah Langenkamp, the head of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.
According to Langenkamp, the goal of the project is technical assistance to help Ukrainian border guards to counter security threats on the northern and eastern sections of the state border. To this end, the United States plans to provide the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine with unmanned aircraft systems, special vehicles, video monitoring and communications equipment and other special means. The project is scheduled to begin in 2022.
Nikiforenko reported that this joint project with the United States is aimed at strengthening security on the border. It provides for ensuring the urgent and priority needs of border guards, improving the safety and comfort of their work in the field. This is necessary, since the situation in the east of Ukraine and on the northern borders is very difficult, Nikiforenko said.
The Pentagon believes that Russia is amassing troops on the Ukrainian border. "We continue to see an increase [in the Russian military along the Ukrainian border] in recent days and weeks," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said earlier.
The Kremlin has rejected such statements. "Such headlines are nothing more than an empty, groundless escalation of tensions," said Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, about publications about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He recalled that NATO aircraft conduct exercises near Russian borders, so Russia "should be on the alert."