​The U.S. State Department announced Thursday that it wants U.S. lawmakers to approve funds for countries neighboring Ukraine that are “potentially at risk of future Russian aggression,” according to the data. Newsweekquoted by Rador.

The funds will be part of a new more than $2 billion aid package for Ukraine and its allies proposed by US officials.

In a statement on Thursday, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that funds will be provided to 18 countries neighboring Ukraine.

The $2.2 billion package, which must be approved by Congress, would provide Ukraine with about $1 billion, with the rest distributed among countries including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia and Lithuania, the Associated Press reported. , and Slovakia, Poland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Moldova and Slovenia will also receive funds.

In recent weeks, NATO has taken measures to protect member states amid fears that the war could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders.

NATO warplanes began surveillance last month, and the organization said it maintains a “permanent defense presence and monitors the airspace” of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

Also in August, Kremlin propagandist Volodymyr Solovyov said that Russia is at war with NATO countries. “This is a war against NATO, a war for the survival of our country,” Solovyov said on Russian state television.

Last month, the 101st Airborne Division, known as the Screaming Eagles, was deployed to NATO member states to protect the alliance’s eastern flank.

In a statement posted on Twitter on August 11, the US Mission to NATO said approximately 2,400 troops had been deployed to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia “to reassure our allies and deter our adversaries”.

In an article published Wednesday in the Financial Times, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged the risk Russia poses to NATO member states.

“The price we pay for supporting Ukraine also benefits our own security. [Președintele rus] Vladimir Putin has clearly stated that he wants to erase the country from the world map and rewrite the European security order,” Stoltenberg wrote.

“Russia temporarily occupied about 20% of the territory of Ukraine – this is a territory that is four times the area of ​​Belgium or half of the territory of Great Britain. Emboldened by any success, Russia may risk further aggression against other neighbors and even an attack on NATO allies.”

In addition to announcing the new aid offer on Thursday, Blinken announced an additional $675 million package that would include “additional weapons, ammunition and equipment from the US Department of Defense stockpile” for Ukraine.

Newsweek has reached out to the State Department for comment.