MOSCOW, October 9 – Novosti. The United States will soon be unable to supply Ukraine with certain types of ammunition, according to AFP, said a retired colonel of the US Marine Corps, senior adviser to the Center for Strategic and International Studies Mark Kansian.
Stocks, he warned, were running out faster than they could be replenished. In particular, this concerns stockpiles of missiles for HIMARS systems. “If the United States sends a third of this stock to Ukraine (as was the case with Javelins and Stingers), Ukraine will receive eight thousand to ten thousand missiles. This stock will probably last for several months, but when stocks are exhausted, there is no replacement,” said Kanchian, who previously handled arms procurement for the US government.
Restoring to the level that preceded the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine “could take years,” writes Kansian.
AFP also cites a US military official who said on condition of anonymity that Kiev ‘s need for munitions was “much greater than expected.”
Earlier , NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that the stockpiles of weapons in the alliance countries have decreased due to supplies to Ukraine. According to him, NATO should work with the defense industry to speed up the production of equipment and weapons.
At the end of September, the United States announced the allocation of a new package of military assistance to Kyiv in the amount of about $1.1 billion. It, among other things, includes 18 MLRS HIMARS. Thus, taking into account the current tranche, the total volume of American military assistance to Ukraine during the presidency of Joe Biden reached almost $17 billion.
Russia has previously sent a note to NATO countries because of the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. The Foreign Ministry stated that the NATO countries are “playing with fire” by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping Ukraine with weapons from the West does not contribute to the success of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect.