The administration of the US President Donald Trump approved the commercial sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, the US media reported with reference to the US State Department.

In December, the department authorized US arms manufacturers to supply Ukraine with self-loading and automatic firearms up to the size of the fiftieth (12,7x99 mm), as well as sights and mufflers.

According to sources from the Washington Post in the White House, Ukraine plans to buy a batch of self-loading large-scale sniper rifles M107A1 from Barrett, as well as ammunition and accessories to them. The volume of the contract is estimated at 41.5 million dollars.

At the same time, the newspaper notes that the authorities did not approve the supply of heavy weapons at the request of Kiev, including portable anti-tank missile systems FGM-148 Javelin.

The head of the US Senate Committee on International Relations, Bob Corker, who co-authored the document authorizing the sale of weapons, said that he was pleased with his approval.

"The decision was supported by the congress in accordance with the law adopted three years ago, and it reflects our firm position on Ukraine in connection with the continuing aggression on the part of Russia," said Corker.

State Department spokesman Heather Neuart explained that, according to this decision, the US government will not directly sell weapons to Kiev, but only allow Ukraine to purchase it from US manufacturers.

"Under the previous two [presidential] administrations, the US government has already approved export licenses for Ukraine, so there is nothing new in this [decision]," Neuters quoted Reuters as saying..

December 13, 2017, the supply of firearms to Ukraine was approved by the Government of Canada, which caused critical comments from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Representative Office Maria Zakharova said that such a move by Ottawa pushes the Ukrainian leadership "to new military adventures".

The question of the supply of arms to Ukraine began to be actively discussed in the US administration after the annexation of the Crimea and the beginning of the conflict in the Donbass in 2014, but under the previous president Barack Obama this decision was never finally taken.

In July, US Special Representative for the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine Kurt Volker said that Washington is considering the possibility of supplying the Ukrainian army, in particular, anti-tank weapons.