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US allocates $4 bln to build six storehouses for explosives in Ukraine

WASHINGTON, June 26. /TASS/. The United States will allocate $4 million to Ukraine to build six storehouses for explosive munitions as part of a new memorandum of understanding on Conventional Weapons Stockpile Management signed on Tuesday, the US Department of State has said.

"Today [on June 25], the United States and Ukraine signed a new memorandum of understanding on Conventional Weapons Stockpile Management. Signed by Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper and Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs Acting Director of the Directorate of International Security Ruslan Nimchynskyi, the memorandum sets out a $4 million U.S. contribution toward construction of six explosive storehouses over the next two years for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense," the Departmenet of State said in a statement.

"This project will enhance the safety and security of Ukraine’s munitions stockpiles, as well as advance Ukraine closer to its goal of meeting NATO and international standards for physical security and stockpile management," the statement reads.

According to the Department of State, from 2004 to 2018, the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction program has invested more than $40 million "in support of Ukraine’s effort to address the legacy of the large quantities of conventional arms and ammunition inherited after the dissolution of the Soviet Union." In 2018, Washington "funded the destruction or demilitarization of over 1,700 metric tons of obsolete Soviet-vintage munitions in Ukraine."

Last year, the United States allocated funds for mine-clearing effort on the territory of over 227,000 square km in eastern Ukraine.

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