Ukraine to buy more Javelin anti-tank missile systems from US

Ukraine's Defence Ministry on Thursday said that it has signed contracts to purchase the second consignment of United States anti-tank missile systems, the advanced fire-and-forget portable anti-tank missiles.

The US has been one of Kiev's strongest supporters since Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the outbreak of fighting in Ukraine's eastern Donbass region that has killed more than 13,000 people, Xinhua news agency reported.

"During the fourth quarter ... the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine managed to sign contracts for the supply of the second batch of anti-tank missile systems 'Javelin,' which are manufactured by the USA," said Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine Anatoliy Petrenko during a briefing here.

The contract is the first large-scale one of direct intergovernmental defence purchases between Ukraine and the United States, said the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States.

"This is a huge step forward for Ukraine. The old regulation forbade the Ukrainian Defence Ministry to buy the weapons and equipment from foreign countries directly. The changes will expand our capabilities to strengthen the state's military-technical and defence potential," the embassy said on its Facebook page.

Earlier this year, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk had announced an increase in defence spending for the next year.

The first shipment of Javelin systems was delivered to Ukraine in April last year.

Last week, US President Donald Trump signed a bill that envisages providing USD300 million in military aid to Ukraine in 2020.