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Washington (GPA) – In a move likely to further erode US-Russian relations, the Trump regime has approved weapons sales to Ukraine.

While Trump apologists spent last week pretending the US President was finally making good on his promise “to improve relations with Russia” by helping foil a terror attack, behind the scenes a much more despicable decision developed. This decision, announced earlier today, gives the green-light for US arms dealers to sell certain “defensive” weapons to Ukraine, as opposed to the previous non-lethal support received by Kiev.

While it may be true that the US has been backing the military junta in Ukraine since the days of the Maidan ‘protests,’ under the Obama regime this support was limited to non-lethal materials such as vehicles and intel equipment. Obama clearly had no problem propping up these reactionary forces, but the US still didn’t cross the line of arming Kiev’s soldiers until now.

Now before our pro-Trump readers go off blaming the “deep state” for this latest move, it must be said that a top White House official has allegedly told the Washington Post that Trump personally signed off on this. The desire to make this decision is also a publicly known priority of some of Trump’s top security advisers including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Initially the move to arm Ukraine was approved by the US Congress but was heavily restricted by the Obama regime. Despite this bill passing years ago, most senators weren’t personally invested in this initial vote. However, a few zealots celebrate today. One such is the neocon Bob Corker who told reporters he was “pleased the administration approved the sale,” and that “This decision was supported by Congress in legislation that became law three years ago and reflects our country’s longstanding commitment to Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.”

The US already has troops stationed in Ukraine and recently hosted NATO drills which they invited Ukrainian soldiers to attend, but now with the approval of arms sales, albeit only small arms such as Model M107A1 Sniper Systems, the US has crossed a new line. Canada also recently changed their policy to allow weapons sales to Ukraine signaling a possible larger shift of NATO member policies.

This move is, of course, occurring in an atmosphere of heightened tensions between the west and Russia and is just the latest escalation in Eastern Europe, where NATO troops have been massing for the last few years. It has still never been independently verified that Russia directly supports the rebels in east Ukraine against the forces of Kiev (who continuously violate ceasefires), but with a partner as unreliable as President Petro Poroshenko, the US arms sales will likely be responsible for future murder and a possible PR victory for Moscow.