WASHINGTON/SEOUL - Washington wants to buy South Korean artillery shells to send to Ukraine, a US official said on Friday, even as Seoul insisted that the United States must be the ammunition’s end user and that its policy against lethal aid for Ukraine is unchanged.
The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, confirmed that Washington wanted to send South Korean 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine.
The official said that Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds could be used to purchase the ammunition, but that it was unclear whether it would be shipped though US territory.
South Korea’s defence ministry, however, said that its position of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine is unchanged and that the negotiations are being conducted “under the premise that the US is the end user”.
“In order to make up for the shortage of 155mm ammunition inventories in the US, negotiations are ongoing between the US and Korean companies to export ammunition,” the ministry said.
The US official warned that news of the talks could threaten the deal.
A US ally, South Korea has sought to avoid antagonising Russia, both for economic reasons and because of the influence that Moscow can exert with North Korea.
Citing US officials familiar with the deal, the Wall Street Journal said the agreement would involve 100,000 rounds of 155mm artillery rounds that would be delivered to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on South Korea to provide weapons, which he said would be “indispensable”.
In October, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Seoul has not provided any lethal weapons to Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said such a decision would destroy bilateral relations.
US National Security spokesman John Kirby said last week that Washington had information that North Korea was covertly supplying Russia with a “significant” number of artillery shells of its own for use in Ukraine.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied any arms shipments.
Meanwhile, the US will provide air defence systems and surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine as part of a new US$400 million (S$553 million) security assistance package, the Pentagon announced on Thursday.
With “Russia’s unrelenting and brutal air attacks on Ukrainian civilian and critical infrastructure, additional air defense capabilities are critical”, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told journalists.
The package includes four short-range, highly mobile Avenger air defence systems – the first time they have been provided to Ukraine – as well as the Stinger missiles they fire.
Also in the package are missiles for HAWK air defence systems that Spain has agreed to provide, artillery and mortar rounds, ammunition for Himars precision rocket launchers, and more than 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition.
The HAWK missiles will be refurbished with Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds, which pay for procurement of equipment from the defence industry. Other items in the package will be taken from existing US inventories. REUTERS, AFP