Stockholm, Jan 20 (IANS) Sweden will provide Ukraine with the Archer artillery system, its tenth and the largest military aid package so far, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.
The package is worth around 4.3 billion Swedish kronor ($415 million) and also includes around 50 CV-90 armoured vehicles with ammunition, NLAW anti-tank missiles, disposable anti-tank weapons, and mine clearing equipment, the government said at a press conference here on Thursday.
Ukraine has repeatedly requested that Sweden provides them with Archer, a vehicle-mounted howitzer with a range of up to 50 km, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Swedish government has tasked the Swedish Armed Forces with preparing for deliveries of the system, including ammunition.
Sweden will also assist Ukraine with their own arms procurement through cooperation and co-purchases with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), the government said, adding that it would speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Before Thursday’s announcement, Sweden had already pledged to provide Ukraine with military equipment worth nearly five billion kronor in total, Swedish Television (SVT) reported.
Russia has said that the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine does not help resolve the conflict but prolongs the suffering of the Ukrainian people, and that Western arms convoys to Ukraine would be considered “legitimate targets” for the Russian armed forces. (1 Swedish krona = 0.097 US dollar)
–IANS
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