The United States Senate on Thursday evening voted on a US$925 billion (€799.7 billion) defense budget, which includes an “ironclad commitment” to Estonia, as well as Latvia and Lithuania, Kyiv Post reported .
The vote ended a nine-day federal government shutdown and comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has made a U-turn on Russia and Ukraine and the likely outcome of the war.
The Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the Senate with 77 votes to 20 late Thursday but now needs to be reconciled with the House version before it can be enacted.
This follows a month of legislative gridlock, set against the backdrop of Russian drone and fighter jet incursions into NATO airspace in Estonia, Poland, and Romania, as well as a more specific recent violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets.
A key provision of the NDAA is the three-year funding authorization for the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI), aimed at strengthening the defenses of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania against Russian aggression.
Read more: ERR.EE
