WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is set to visit a Pennsylvania munitions plant on Sunday that produces one of the weapons most needed in the country's fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
Zelenskiy is scheduled to visit the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant to kick off a busy week in the United States to shore up support for the Ukraine war, said two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not yet been made public and a third person familiar with Zelenskiy's schedule. The president is also scheduled to address the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and travel to Washington on Thursday to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Scranton plant is one of the few facilities in the nation that manufactures 155 mm artillery shells. These shells are used in howitzer systems, which are large towed guns with long barrels that can be fired at various angles. Howitzers can attack targets up to 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 kilometers) away, making them extremely useful for ground troops to eliminate enemy targets from protected distances.
Ukraine has already received over three million 155mm artillery shells from the United States.
As the war enters its third year, President Zelenskiy has asked the United States for permission to use longer-range missile systems to strike deeper into Russian territory.
So far, Trump has been unsuccessful in persuading the Pentagon or the White House to relax those restrictions. The Pentagon has stressed that Ukraine can already strike Moscow with Ukrainian-made drones and has balked at the strategic implications of potentially hitting the Russian capital with U.S.-made missiles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia would be at “war” with the United States and its NATO allies if it allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons.
At one point during the war, Ukraine was firing 6,000 to 8,000 155mm rounds per day, a rate that began to deplete U.S. stockpiles and raised concerns that stocks would be insufficient to meet U.S. military needs in the event of a new large-scale conventional war, such as a conflict over Taiwan.
In response, the United States has invested in restarting production lines that are currently producing more than 40,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition per month, with plans to increase that to 100,000 rounds per month. During his visit, President Zelensky is expected to meet and thank workers who have ramped up production of 155mm ammunition over the past year.
Two of the Pentagon leaders who have pushed for increased production, Under Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology Doug Bush and the Pentagon's top arms buyer, Bill LaPlante, are expected to accompany Zelenskiy to the plant, as will Pennsylvania's Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro.
The 155mm shells are just one of many munitions, missiles, air defense systems and advanced weapons systems the United States has provided to Ukraine — everything from small arms rounds to advanced F-16 fighter jets. The United States is Ukraine's largest donor, providing more than $56 billion of the more than $106 billion NATO and partner nations have raised to support the country's defense.
Although Ukraine is not a NATO member state, many European countries consider it essential to defend Ukraine in order to prevent further military aggression by Putin that could threaten borders with NATO allies and spark a larger conflict.
