BUCHAREST,VAS Community Romania (AP) — Romania is pushing to buy 54 Abrams main battle tanks and related equipment from the United States in a deal worth at least a billion dollars, the defense ministry said Friday.

The ministry said the latest-model tanks would help its military meet regional security challenges. Romania, a NATO member since 2004, shares a long border with war-torn Ukraine.

The sale would include ammunition and training simulators, the ministry said. It said Romania has estimated the contract as worth about $1 billion, but that Congress was notified of a higher value of $2.5 billion after it was approved by the U.S. State Department on Thursday. No timeframe for the purchase was specified.

Romanian Minister of Defense Angel Tilvar said the strategic partnership between his country and the U.S. “represents one of the pillars of national security and an essential contribution to strengthening the defense of the allied eastern flank in the Black Sea region.”

On Friday, Romania’s defense ministry also announced the inauguration next week of a long-planned training hub for F-16 fighter jet pilots from NATO countries and other partners, including Ukraine.

The U.S. State Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Thursday after a notification was sent to Congress that the potential tank sale “will support the foreign policy and national security objectives” of the U.S. and improve NATO’s security.

In April, Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense announced that it had approved the acquisition of an unspecified number of American-made F-35 fighter jets, as Romania pushes to modernize its military.

After Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Romania boosted it defense spending, while NATO bolstered its presence on Europe’s eastern flank by sending additional multinational battlegroups to alliance members Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Slovakia.