U.S. To Arm Ukraine With Anti-Ship Missiles To Lift Blockade Of Black Sea - Media

The White House is working to hand over modern anti-ship missiles to Ukraine that will help lift the naval blockade by the Russian Federation. This was reported by Reuters on Thursday, May 19.

Kyiv handed over to the United States a list of weapons that will help push back the Russian fleet and free Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. This will allow the resumption of supplies of grain and other agricultural products around the world, Reuters points out. Boeing-made Harpoon anti-ship missiles and Kongsberg and Raytheon Technologies' Naval Strike Missile are being considered for transmission.

“12 to 24 anti-ship missiles like the Harpoon with ranges over 100 km would be enough to threaten Russian ships and could convince Moscow to lift the blockade. If Putin persists, Ukraine could take out the largest Russian ships, since they have nowhere to hide in the Black Sea,” said Bryan Clark, a naval expert at the Hudson Institute.

Several countries are ready to send Harpoons to Ukraine, but none of them want to be the only country not to provoke Russia's anger if a ship is sunk with a Harpoon from their stockpile, Reuters reported, citing U.S. officials and congressional sources.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on May 19, the U.S. Congress approved the allocation of USD 40 billion in aid to Ukraine.

On May 14, representatives of the G7 countries (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan) agreed to continue financial and military support for Ukraine for as long as it takes to repel Russian aggression.

On May 9, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a law on a lend-lease program for Ukraine, which will allow the American leader to provide unprecedented military and economic assistance to Ukraine.