US State Department backs 165mn ammunition sale to Ukraine

The U.S. State Department on Monday said it supported the approval of a possible sale of $165 million worth of ammunition to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against Russia’s ongoing invasion.  

The Ukrainian government had asked to buy various rounds of so-called non-standard ammunition, the department said in a statement, referring to ammunition that does not adhere to NATO standards. The news comes after top diplomats of the US- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised more military aid after hailing Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion at their visit to Kyiv on Sunday.  

U.S. officials said Austin and Blinken pledged new assistance worth $713 million for Ukraine and other countries in the region. An extra $322 million in military aid for Ukraine would take the total U.S. security assistance since the invasion to about $3.7 billion, one official said.  

Russia’s ambassador in Washington said Moscow had sent a diplomatic note demanding a halt to U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine, warning that large Western deliveries of weapons were inflaming the conflict and would lead to more losses.  

5 railway stations came under fire in western and central Ukraine, Monday and there were an unspecified number of casualties, Ukrainian television reported. Ukraine’s railway company’s chief, said the attacks took place in the space of an hour.  

Meanwhile across the border in Russia’s Bryansk region near northeastern Ukraine, authorities were battling a huge blaze at a fuel depot. Russia had accused Ukraine of a helicopter attack in that area last week.   
WASHINGTON, April 
25 Reuters