Kyiv (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko will not sign the 2009 state budget with the current level of defense spending, Presidential Press Secretary Iryna Vannykova said at a briefing on Monday.
“The president says he will not support the 2009 state budget with the old indicators of army financing,” she said.
Vannykova said the president considers an increase in spending on the army to European standards as the main task of the government for 2009.
She said Yuschenko considers issues of national security and defense should be depoliticized.
Vannykova also said Yuschenko would participate in events on the Ukrainian Armed Forces Day on December 5
