SEOUL/WASHINGTON Nov 11 (Reuters) - Washington wants to buy South Korean artillery shells to send to Ukraine, a U.S. official said on Friday, even as Seoul insisted that the United States must be the ammunition's end user and that its policy against lethal aid for Ukraine is unchanged. The U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, confirmed that Washington wanted to send South Korean 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine. The official said that Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds could be used to purchase the ammunition, but that it was unclear whether it would be shipped though U.S. territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on South Korea to provide weapons, which he said would be "indispensable". Last month South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said Seoul has not provided any lethal weapons to Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin said such a decision would destroy bilateral relations.

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