US State Dept. clears $600M deal with Ukraine for patrol boats, guns and sensors – By Joe Gould (Defense News) / June 17 2020
WASHINGTON ― The U.S. State Department has cleared a potential sale to Ukraine of 16 Mark VI patrol boats and other gear worth $600 million, it was announced Wednesday.
The pending sale to Ukraine is the first of its kind since U.S. President Donald Trump was acquitted in February in congressional impeachment proceedings that centered on his administration’s freeze on military aid to Ukraine.
Along with the modern and fast patrol boats, the sale includes various weapons, sensors and communications gear to deter Russia from muscling Ukraine in the contested Kerch Strait and key ports along the Azov Sea.
According to a State Department official, the sale will improve the capability of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to “sustain river and littoral water patrols throughout Ukraine’s [maritime] exclusive economic zone.”
“Ukraine’s military has an urgent need to strengthen its capabilities to patrol and police their EEZ, territorial waters, and protect other maritime interests due to persistent maritime threats posed by the Russia‐led forces in eastern Ukraine and surrounding waters and the credible threat of Russian conventional military maritime attack,” the official said.
Continue to article: https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/06/17/us-selling-ukraine-600m-in-patrol-boats-guns-and-sensors/
