Kyiv plans to ask Washington to allow Europe to purchase American weapons for Ukraine - Politico
Following the announcement of the suspension of part of the US military aid to Ukraine, Kyiv plans to ask Washington to allow Europe to buy American weapons.
According to Censor.NET, Politico reports this with reference to its own sources.
It is noted that several European governments are already studying plans to purchase American weapons from their defense budgets to transfer them to Ukraine.
"The money will be included in the new amount of NATO defense spending, but there are no firm commitments yet. These deliveries will have to be made with the approval of the US government, and this issue is still being discussed," Politico writes.
The publication emphasizes that one of the important problems is the restrictions that the United States usually imposes on its allies - the use of American weapons. During the Biden administration, British Storm Shadow missiles were not sent to Kyiv because they contained American parts. Part of the negotiations will be devoted to these permits, a Ukrainian official told the publication. However, it is not yet clear whether the United States will grant such requests, the article says.
According to Politico, until this week, the aid had been arriving in Ukraine via Poland and, according to one administration official, was expected to last for several more months, depending on the size of each package. The planned packages were similar in composition to those previously sent, including artillery shells, small arms, and air defense missiles, but the Pentagon's unexpected cancellation of the arms shipment created some uncertainty.
"Given the fact that some types of weapons that are of critical importance to us are not produced by anyone in the democratic world except the United States, we, together with our European partners, are ready to purchase them," the Ukrainian official told reporters.
US suspends aid to Ukraine
Earlier, the media reported that the United States had suspended the shipment of missiles and ammunition to Ukraine due to concerns about the state of American arsenals. Subsequently, the White House confirmed the suspension of missiles and ammunition shipments to Ukraine and stated that the interests of the United States were a priority.
A PBS journalist said that in addition to PAC-3 interceptor missiles intended for Patriot systems, the Pentagon also stopped the supply of 155-mm artillery shells, GMLRS missiles intended for M270 MLRS and HIMARS systems, Stinger anti-tank missiles, and AIM-7 and Hellfire air defense missiles.
The Ministry of Defense said that Ukraine has not received any official notifications about the suspension or revision of the delivery schedules of defense assistance from the United States, which was agreed upon during the previous administration.
In a video message on July 2, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the progress of negotiations with the United States on the suspension of defense aid.
