The US Congress has approved a permit to export 125 long-range artillery rounds and 100 missiles for Patriot air defense systems from Germany to Ukraine.
According to Ukrinform, The New York Times reported this with reference to a congressional official.
Such a decision is necessary for the transfer of American ammunition available in Germany to Ukraine. Without the approval of the US government, even allies who own these missiles cannot transfer them to a third party.
It is noted that this step was preceded by several months of negotiations, as well as the conclusion of a bilateral agreement on minerals, which was recently ratified by the Verkhovna Rada. According to the newspaper, despite the fact that this document is not a formal guarantee of security, it gives reason to expect the continuation of military-technical cooperation between Kyiv and Washington.
In a commentary to the NYT, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence Yehor Chernev emphasized that the Armed Forces are facing an acute shortage of long-range missiles and air defense systems, most of which are manufactured in the United States. The aid approved under Biden may run out by the summer. And new packages from the current administration remain in question.
“Europe is trying to compensate for the decrease in US aid, but they simply do not have enough capacity,” Chernev said, adding that a lot of time passes between the decision to supply and the actual receipt of aid.
As reported by Ukrinform, on May 8, the Verkhovna Rada ratified an intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund focused on investing in the development and extraction of mineral resources and related infrastructure.
