The U.S. AirTronic firm has received a license and is already supplying Ukraine with the PSRL grenade launcher, which is manufactured in the United States. The weapon is a modernized version of the rocket-propelled grenade launcher RPG-7," the Washington, D.C.-based U.S.-taxpayer funded Voice of America (VOA) said on Wednesday.

AirTronic's Chief Operating Officer Richard Vandiver told VOA that his company began cooperating with Ukraine two years ago, and the first batches of the weapons were shipped to Ukraine in 2016.

He said receiving a license was difficult and it took time because of the "delicacy" of the Minsk peace agreements. Vandiver said exports of the PSRL did not violate terms of the peace agreement.

Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.S. Valeriy Chaly, in turn, said concluding arms contracts and receiving licenses involves both a political and commercial issues. He said Ukraine first began working with AirTronic in 2015.

"We expect [U.S.] legislation that provides for supplying Ukraine with lethal defense weapons, which was adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, will be signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and that $50 million will be made available for the purchase of lethal defense weapons.

Chaly said there is a difference between commercial contracts and the U.S. military assistance Ukraine expects to obtain, saying the latter suggest more powerful defensive weapons.