Ukraine Says The US Is Holding Up $30M Worth Of Guns And Ammo -- And It Wants Its Money Back

[highplainsdem]

Source: BuzzFeed

KYIV — At the heart of the impeachment saga that ended on Wednesday in Donald Trump’s acquittal was $391 million in US military assistance for Ukraine that the president ordered be withheld.

But that aid package, which was eventually released last September, wasn’t the only US arms transfer meant for the war-torn country that was held up. Several direct commercial sales of arms and ammunition to Ukraine faced significant delays at the same time — and they remain mysteriously frozen months later, BuzzFeed News has learned. Now, after a lengthy wait and down payments in the tens of millions of dollars for the equipment, Kyiv wants its money back.

The Trump administration is currently withholding approval for at least six commercial orders for arms and ammunition from US companies to Ukraine, together worth roughly $30 million, according to three current Ukrainian officials and a former senior US official who have direct knowledge of the sales, straining an already fragile relationship between the two countries. All four officials said that five of the pending sales from US companies have been delayed for around a year, and one of the sales has been held up for more than a year. The officials said they haven’t been able to get any answers from the Trump administration about why the deals, which typically take around two months to approve and must be licensed by the State Department, haven’t received approval.

“It might be wise for the Ukrainians to look for other sources” from which to buy arms and ammunition, said the US official, who said he has questioned senior White House and State Department officials about the issue. He said he received only a cryptic response from both that the sales are still being “evaluated,” despite the Ukrainians already putting money down on them.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/ukraine-us-arms-sales

[imavoter]

1. and who could blame them n/t

[leftieNanner]

2. Maybe they can buy them from the Russians

[Iliyah]

3. You won't hear that on the news . . .

[2naSalit]

4. There is a dual purpose in this withholding...

His demand for help in cheating and to make his owner happy.

[mn9driver]

5. Trump has been given the green light to do this.

Russia doesn’t want Ukraine to have these weapons.

Trump can now comply with Putin’s orders without even bothering to hide it. And he gets the bonus of getting revenge on them for not lying about Biden.

This is just the beginning of an era of open presidential lawbreaking.

[sakabatou]

6. I thought Ukraine knew that Trump follows Putin's orders

[BadGimp]

7. UN F&*@(NG Believable

[Jim__]

8. Trump has always been a deadbeat.

Never extend him any credit, and never pay him in advance. Never!

[csziggy]

11. A better recommendation - NEVER do business with Trump

Or any of his relatives or cronies. Remember the adage - "Everything Trump touches dies."

[IronLionZion]

9. 2nd Amendment conservatives always want folks to have guns and ammo for self defense

unless they are Ukrainians trying to defend themselves from Russian aggression.

[iluvtennis]

10. Yet the trump lawyers and he himself assert the trump admin has provided weapons to Ukraine & say

Obama admin never did that. Lies, lies, and more lies.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. So Trump rips off more than just contractors.

[Yavin4]

13. Ukraine knows what it needs to do to get the money.

Announce an investigation of Pete Buttigieg.