US President Joe Biden approved the country’s defense budget for the 2025 fiscal year (started on October 1) in the amount of $895 billion. This is stated in a statement by the White House, Day.Az reports with reference to Gazeta.ru.
These funds will go to US Department of Defense and military construction programs, to Department of Energy national security programs and intelligence programs. The House of Representatives approved the project on December 11, the Senate on December 18.
The document also stipulates that the Pentagon is prohibited from entering into agreements with persons who engage in transactions with fossil fuels, as well as with the Russian government or the Russian energy sector. A ban has also been introduced on the exchange of information with the Russian Federation, “as required by the Russian-American Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START).”
It is noted that Washington can exchange information with Moscow if the Russian side provides the American “similar information in accordance with the requirements <...> [ДСНВ]”or if the information provided by the Russian Federation is in the interests of US national security.
In addition, the document obliges the US intelligence community to assess the risks to the country’s security if Washington stops supplying weapons to Ukraine and Russia successfully completes a special military operation.
Last December, Biden approved the US defense budget for the 2024 fiscal year in the amount of $886.3 billion.