MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/. A senior Russian parliamentarian has welcomed US President Barack Obama’s vetoing a defense spending bill that would authorise lethal weapons supply to Ukraine, regardless of what could have prompted the decision, he says.
In blocking the bill, the president "was hardly proceeding from the interests of a peaceful settlement to the Ukrainian conflict", first deputy chairman of the Federation Council upper house Defense and Security Committee Franz Klintsevich told reporters.
The decision could have come because of "differences between the president and the US Congress on the defense budget lying in a different sphere", he said.
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"Nevertheless, the very fact of Obama’s vetoing the bill can be qualified as a positive sign, regardless of the reasons he was guided by," the lawmaker said, explaining that "supplies of American weapons to Ukraine would inevitably worsen the situation in [eastern region] Donbass, becoming a major obstacle to implementing the Minsk [peace accord] agreements".
On Thursday, the US leader vetoed the spending bill for 2016, scuppering provisions to send military aid to Ukraine. But chances to see the bill pass remain.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell says the upper house could override the president’s veto as 67 senator votes were needed to override the veto on the bill backed by 73 in the house.