The United States Senate approves its annual defense budget, which includes more support for NATO and Ukraine

MADRID, 16 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United States Senate approved this Thursday the annual defense policy bill, allocating 858,000 million dollars (806,000 million euros) to national defense and the support of its allies, including NATO and Ukraine. .

With 83 votes in favor and 11 against, the measure includes an increase in funds to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion, as well as a new program to provide Taiwan with security assistance, as reported by 'The Washington Post'.

Specifically, US legislators have allocated more than 6 billion dollars (5.64 billion euros) to the European Deterrence Initiative, an increase of approximately 2 billion euros compared to last year.

800 million dollars (750 million euros) in security assistance funds dedicated specifically to Ukraine have also been allocated, although it will be granted under some conditions, such as the preparation of reports by the US Pentagon to supervise assistance operations to Ukraine and to better track weapons being sent to the front.

In addition, this new Defense budget increases the salary line for members of the US Armed Forces by 4.6 percent, and includes provisions to strengthen air power and ground war defense capabilities, as well as cybersecurity.

In order to move this bill forward, the Biden Administration has had to give in to the Republican request to rescind the military mandate for the COVID-19 vaccine, which had been in force since August 2021.