According to Buzz Feed News, they were told by three current Ukrainian officials and one former senior U.S. official that at least six commercial sales of guns and ammunition have faced delays of at least a year and continue to remain frozen.
Now, after such a lengthy delay and down payments of $30 million for the equipment, Kyiv wants its money back. The unexplained holdup of the ammunition and arms is straining an already fragile relationship between the two countries. The White House has not provided any reasoning about why the commercial orders are being delayed.
Commercial deals and purchases between two companies generally take about two months to get licensing approved by the State Department.
“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.
Yahoo News reported on one arms sale worth $10 million that had been held up back in September 2019. The export license for that ammunition sale, which is said to be the “most critical” for the Ukrainians, was submitted to the State Department in November 2018.
Down payments for the other five sales were made between January and March of 2019, well before the scrutinized July 25 call between Trump and the Ukrainian president. However, there could be entirely different reasons for the delays.
Officials pointed to two possibilities – one being related to a military procurement scandal involving Ukraine’s former president – or a Chinese attempt to buy a Ukrainian strategic aerospace company that the U.S. has tried to block.
According to the Wall Street Journal, on July 23, 2019, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton was trying to throw a wrench into a pending Chinese acquisition of a Ukrainian aerospace company on grounds that it would give Beijing vital defense technology, according to senior U.S. administration officials familiar with the matter.
The aerospace company, Motor Sich, is one of the largest engine manufacturers for airplanes and helicopters worldwide. It is also the only enterprise in Ukraine manufacturing engines for airplanes and helicopters as well as industrial gas turbine installations.
