Ukrainian soldiers in Donbass, Eastern Ukraine (Photo: AFP).
ABC News quoted an anonymous Ukrainian official as saying that Washington has cut supplies of vital NATO-standard ammunition to Ukraine "by more than 30 percent" since the conflict with Israel - Hamas broke out early last month.
“155mm artillery shells are believed to be the most important ammunition for Ukraine in the fight against Russian forces, and part of the US stockpile, which was intended for Ukrainian forces, was transferred to Israel,” the source said.
In recent weeks, US officials have repeatedly said that Washington's transfer of weapons to Israel will not have any impact on the war in Ukraine.
“US officials told us that it would not affect the US commitment, but it did,” the Ukrainian official admitted.
The unnamed official said the supply of 155mm artillery shells accounts for "about 60-70% of Ukraine's total supply".
However, a senior US defense official told ABC News that the ammunition cut to Ukraine had “absolutely nothing to do with what’s happening in Gaza.”
In addition, Ukrainian officials also expressed concern that the deadlock in the US Congress could mean that arms supplies to Ukraine would begin to dry up.
"We are in big trouble. Basic ammunition will not be delivered," the official said, warning that if the situation continued to deteriorate, Ukraine risked losing its position on the battlefield "at a very high price".
Earlier this month, the White House said that without congressional approval, Washington was running out of money to fund arms supplies to Ukraine, while one of its key aid programs had run out of funds.
President Joe Biden signed a temporary spending bill over the weekend after it was passed by the Senate the day before. The budget allocation is limited, only able to help the US avoid a government shutdown until early 2024 and will not include an aid package for Ukraine.
The issue of aid to Ukraine has been a major source of disagreement in American politics in recent times. The conflict even led to the removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in September.
Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser, Mikhail Podoliak, said that the weapons that the West promised to provide aid to Kiev should have taken only one week to be delivered, but in reality the shipment has been delayed for months.
He also warned that the delay in the delivery of weapons by the West would allow Russia enough time to prepare its strategic defenses and that Moscow would be better able to defend itself when the weapons were delivered to Ukraine.
According to expert Stephen Bryen at the Center for Security Policy and the Yorktown Institute (USA), the Russia-Ukraine conflict shows that the West's defense production capacity is not prepared for a major war.
The US and its allies have been pouring massive amounts of weapons and military equipment into Ukraine over the past 21 months, and many countries are facing ammunition shortages.
Source
Comment (0)