A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Washington wants to send South Korean 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine. He also said that the purchase of ammunition could be paid for by a fund created to provide military aid to Ukraine.
South Korea’s defense ministry said its stance not to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons remained unchanged and that negotiations with Washington were conducted “on the assumption that the end user is the United States”. “To replace the shortage of stocks of 155mm ammunition in the United States, negotiations are underway between US and Korean companies to export ammunition,” the ministry said in a statement.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on South Korea to supply Ukraine with weapons. Although South Korea is an ally of the United States, it does not want to antagonize Russia both for economic reasons and for the influence Moscow can exert over North Korea.
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Citing US officials familiar with the negotiations, The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the deal involved the purchase of 100,000 155mm artillery shells to be delivered to Ukraine.
Last month, South Korean President Jun Sok-yol said Seoul had not supplied Ukraine with lethal weapons. He did so after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that such a decision would destroy relations between the two countries.
White House security spokesman John Kirby said last week that Washington has intelligence that North Korea is secretly supplying Russia with a “significant” amount of its artillery shells for use in Ukraine. Both Moscow and Pyongyang have denied any arms deliveries.
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