Ukranian response to a U.S. request

Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council on 20 February decided to send an antinuclear, -biological, and -chemical (NBC) battalion to the Persian Gulf in response to a U.S. request, Ukrainian and international media reported, quoting council head Yevhen Marchuk. "We have agreed to a proposal to send the radiation and chemical battalion to the Gulf region to help defend civilians and clean up the possible consequences from the [possible] use of weapons of mass destruction," Reuters quoted Marchuk as saying. Marchuk noted that a final decision on dispatching the unit belongs to the Verkhovna Rada. Marchuk also said Kyiv is considering two countries in the Gulf region for possible deployment of the battalion. Marchuk noted that the decision to send the battalion is in no way dependent on the UN Security Council.