The Financial Times reported on Tuesday, that the US administration is seeking to increase the stockpiled supplies of vital munitions to Ukraine to support the counteroffensive against Russian forces.
The Financial Times quoted officials as saying that the administration of US President Joe Biden has known for months that the high rate of use of ammunition in Ukraine will begin to expand the need for supplies, and has intensified efforts to deliver the missiles to the front line as the war enters a decisive stage.
The Financial Times also noted that European supplies have also run out.
Although the United States has already concluded deals with Bulgaria and South Korea to supply Ukraine with missiles, and is in talks with Japan to do the same, the US military’s efforts to increase monthly production of important munitions to 90,000 will take until 2025.
This issue highlights the challenge of increasing this production quickly, especially when the United States wasn’t focusing on it before.
Ukraine have consistently called on Western allies to increase weapons supplies, from air defense systems to fighter jets, as the country is under pressure from international partners to speed up the counterattack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that efforts started slower than hoped because “we didn’t have enough ammunition and weapons, we didn’t have enough brigades properly trained in these weapons”.
Last month, CNN reported that the United States and Europe were struggling to provide Ukraine with the large amount of ammunition it would need for a prolonged counterattack against Russia.
US officials revealed to the network that the ammunition reserve in the United States is close to the red line, if it continues to supply Ukraine with 155mm ammunition, which is the NATO standard used in artillery shells.
The New York Times previously reported that up to 20 percent of the weapons Ukraine sent to the battlefield during the counterattack were damaged or destroyed.
European officials have confirmed more than once that Ukraine consumes a lot of weapons and ammunition, warning that this situation exposes the defense industries of NATO countries to pressure.
The US media had warned, earlier, that the US army faced a sharp decrease in its stock due to the military supplies provided to Ukraine.
In different context, former CIA advisor, Jim Rickards, confirmed that the United States wants a truce in Ukraine in order to arm Kiev again and strike at Russia.
Rickards said, “Washington wants a truce in Ukraine in order to stop the hostilities and focus on the contact line… This will give them the opportunity to rest and rearm the Ukrainian forces”.
He indicated that Russia won’t agree to these conditions because it is confidently winning on the battlefield.
The Ukrainian counterattack on several axes began on 4 June.
Kiev deployed brigades trained by NATO and armed with Western equipment, including German Leopard tanks, which received wide media coverage, but the scenes of destroyed and shattered equipment and the abject failure of the Kiev forces caused a sensation in the West.
