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The top Republican on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee is blocking a $735 million HIMARS arms sale to Hungary.

Senator Jim Risch of Idaho announced Wednesday that the US will not sell them arms, as long as Hungary continues blocking Sweden’s approval to join NATO.

"Given promises that were made to me and others last year that this vote would be done, and the fact that it is now June and still not done, I decided that the sale of new U.S. military equipment to Hungary will be on hold," Risch said. in a statement.

"Hungary should take the actions necessary to allow Sweden into the alliance, and soon," he added.

Hungary says it dropped HIMARS arms sale 

Risch's decision to block the deal was first reported in the Washington Post, which said the sale included 24 HIMARS rocket launcher batteries and more than 100 rockets and pods along with associated parts and support.

The Hungarian Defense Ministry released a statement on MTI, the state news agency, claiming it did not intend to buy HIMARS systems.

"During the previous government term, the government commissioner in charge of procurement requested information about HIMARS missile systems in a letter with a March 2022 deadline. There was no response from the U.S. side, therefore, the ministry considered the matter closed," according to Hungary’s statement.

NATO Membership Update:

The US put the brakes on new arms sales to Budapest in an attempt to force Hungary to give the green light to Sweden’s entrance into the NATO alliance. Sweden is hoping for protection against a possible Russian invasion of the Scandinavian country.

Finland and Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Treaty amid the Russian full-scale war against Ukraine in May 2022.

Finland which borders Russia officially became the 31st NATO member on April 4, 2023. Turkey and Hungary are so far refusing to ratify Sweden’s application to NATO.

On June 8 Ukrainian soldiers completed training in Sweden. They trained on the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle which is being used in the counter-insurgency effort against Russia.

Sweden has also agreed to let NATO base troops within their borders prior to the final approval of its NATO membership.

The U.S. is pressuring its NATO allies, Turkey and Hungary, to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO.

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