KIEV, July 30 ??“ Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko, who has been pushing for Ukraine??™s accession to NATO, on Friday threatened to resign if Parliament approves a dramatic cut on defense spending, a newspaper reported.

A resolution, approved by the pro-Russian coalition, anticipates 7.7 billion hryvnias will be spent on defense in 2007, down from 12 billion hryvnias originally expected. Parliament is to vote on the 2007 budget later this year.