Rada Approved Foreign Military Admission to Ukraine for Exercises

Until the end of 2020, five multinational military maneuvers are planned in Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada adopted a law admiting units of the armed forces of other states to the territory of Ukraine in 2020 to participate in multinational exercises. This was reported on Wednesday, March 4, on the website of the Ukrainian parliament. In support of the document at an extraordinary meeting, 289 parliamentarians spoke out when required at least 226. Another 20 voted against, three abstained, 51 deputies did not participate in the vote. To enter into force, the document must still be signed by President Vladimir Zelensky. Exercises with USA, Romania, Moldova and Great Britain As noted in the text of the bill, foreign forces are called upon to participate in the preparation of "units of the armed forces" of Ukraine. The resolution applies to the Ukrainian-American Exercises Rapid Trident-2020 and Sea Breeze-2020, Ukrainian-Romanian Riverine-2020, Ukrainian-Moldavian "South-2020" and Ukrainian-British Warrior Watcher-2020. Ban on foreign bases An explanatory launch to the bill clarifies that almost 64 million hryvnias (about 23 thousand euros) will be spent from the state budget on multinational exercises with the participation of the Ukrainian military. In Ukraine, there is a ban on the permanent deployment of foreign military bases, therefore, foreign forces are each time allowed into the country by special law on president’s proposal.