Ukraine’s border service announced on December 28 that the United States will fund measures to bolster the Eastern European country’s borders with Russia and Belarus.
According to the border service, the U.S. plans on spending roughly $20 million to buy drones, personal protective equipment, and recording systems for Ukrainian border guard members.
This new project comes at a time of heightened tension between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine. In addition, there is speculation that Western powers have added further fuel to the fire by supporting Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia.
Dave DeCamp of Antiwar.com observed that “Moscow views US support for Ukraine as a provocation and is seeking guarantees that Kyiv won’t join NATO.”
Since 2014, the U.S. government has supplied Ukraine with over $2 billion in military aid, which includes Javelin anti-tank missiles.
Furthermore, the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law on December 27, 2021, allocated $300 million in additional military aid to Ukraine.
The U.S.’s decision to fund Ukraine’s border projects comes on the heels of the European Union’s growing tensions with Belarus.
In recent months, the EU has accused Belarus of weaponizing migration by attracting migrants from war-torn areas in the Middle East and transporting them into Poland and other EU countries.
Belarus has sternly denied these accusations.
Nevertheless, the U.S. and several of its allies have sanctioned Belarus for its controversial actions.
Despite pursuing a “multi-vector” foreign policy that balanced Russia and the West over the years, Belarus has drifted more into Russia’s orbit in recent years.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko stated towards the end of 2021 that Belarus could potentially host nuclear weapons on its territory in response to perceived encroachments from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.