The US military stated that it has transferred infantry weapons and more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukraine. These weapons and ammunition were seized over a year ago as they were being shipped to Houthi rebels by Iran.
The weaponry transferred by the United States to Kyiv on April 4 “constituted enough material to equip” a Ukrainian brigade, U.S. Central Command said in a statement posted on social media platform X. An infantry brigade typically comprises 3,500 to 4,000 troops, but the exact numbers were not known as far as Ukraine was concerned.
Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations said when asked for comment, “We cannot comment on weapons and armaments that have never belonged to us.”
CENTCOM said the hardware included more than 5,000 AK-47 assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades and more than 500,000 rounds of ammunition. The munitions were taken from four “stateless” vessels intercepted by U.S. naval ships and those of partner forces – which were not identified – between May 22, 2021 and Feb. 15, 2023, CENTCOM said.
Ukrainian forces have been running low on weapons and munitions, especially heavy artillery rounds. President Biden has been blocked from providing further US weaponry to Kyiv by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s refusal to call a vote on $60 billion in new security assistance. President Zelensky has admitted recently that without US aid Ukraine will lose the war.
Switzerland has confirmed that it will host a peace conference to end the war on June 15-16 where Russia is not invited. President Biden will be attending. Ukraine has also sought the aid of the Global South and especially India to play a part in ending the war. President Zelensky spoke with Prime Minister Modi in March on this and Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba had also paid a visit to India in end March to urge New Delhi to accept the Zelensky peace formula and take part in the conference.
(With inputs from Reuters)
