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US withdraws years-long ban on providing weapons to ‘Azov’ — The Washington Post

According to the report, the Azov regiment passed a vetting under the so-called "Leahy law"

WASGHINTON, June 11. /TASS/. The US Administration authorized the handover of US-made weapons to the Azov nationalist regiment [deemed terrorist and outlawed in Russia], The Washington Post reported, citing a US Department of State statement.

According to the report, the Azov regiment passed a vetting under the so-called "Leahy law" that prevents US military aid from going to foreign units found to have committed major human rights violations. The Department of State found "no evidence" of such violations, the statement says.

The agency has not yet responded to a TASS request to provide the mentioned statement.

Back in 2017, then-President Donald Trump signed a law on federal government funding, which included an amendment, which prohibited the Pentagon from spending funds, allocated for military aid to Ukraine, to provide any aid to the Azov. This ban has repeatedly been prolonged since.

Previously, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out that the Pentagon seeks to achieve the withdrawal of the ban for funding of Azov from the US military budget.