US strikes deals with Bulgaria, South Korea to give Ukraine 155mm ammo
The United States has already struck deals with Bulgaria and South Korea to supply Ukraine with 155 mm artillery shells it critically needs to carry on its counteroffensive, the Financial Times reported, citing officials.
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"The US has already struck deals with Bulgaria and South Korea to supply the shells to Ukraine and is in talks with Japan to do the same," the report reads.
It is part of an effort by the Biden administration to increase stretched supplies of crucial munitions for Ukraine to support its counteroffensive against Russian occupying forces.
The US is focused on delivering more 155mm calibre shells used in the howitzers Ukraine is deploying along the front line, including both supplies from international allies in the short term and plans to ramp up US production in the next two years.
Officials told the FT the Biden administration had been aware for months that Ukraine’s high expenditure of munitions would begin to stretch supplies and had stepped up efforts to get the shells to the front line as the war "entered a crucial phase".
In May, the Wall Street Journal reported South Korea may have secretly transferred "hundreds of thousands" of artillery rounds for Ukraine under an agreement with the US.