US Fast-Tracking Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Private Arms Sales to Kiev, Reports Say

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States has fast-tracked hundreds of millions of dollars worth of private weapons sales to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation in February, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

The US expedited over $300 million in private arms sales to Ukraine, reducing approval times from weeks to hours, in just the first four months of 2022, the report said.

The State Department authorized less than $15 million in such sales to Ukraine throughout the entirety of fiscal year 2021, the report noted.

However, weapons sold through private brokers are more likely to end up on the black market than their government-provided counterparts, according to the report.

The advantage to private sector arms deals for the US is that it keeps the Pentagon from draining their own stockpiles – a concern recently expressed by senior military officials – and allows the shipment of Soviet-style weapons familiar to Ukrainians that the US cannot provide, the report said.

A launch truck fires the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) at its intended target during the African Lion military exercise in Grier Labouihi complex, southern Morocco, on June 9, 2021.

© AP Photo / Mosa'ab Elshamy

The hundreds of millions of dollars in private arms sales to Ukraine comes alongside over $17.5 billion in security assistance provided by the Biden administration to Ukraine since taking office.

Russia has repeatedly slammed Washington and its allies over their continued arms deliveries to the Kiev regime, pointing to the danger they pose in escalating the crisis and facilitating weapons smuggling, as a large part of the weapons end up on the black market.