On Wednesday, a South Korean publication said South Korea agreed to lend the US 500,000 rounds of 155mm artillery shells last month, giving Washington more freedom to supply Ukraine.

According to DongA Ilbo, unidentified government officials said South Korea “lended” the ammunition instead of selling it to reduce the risk of South Korean shells being used in the Ukrainian war.

The U.S. will stockpile the shells, it stated.

The U.S. requested 100,000 rounds of similar shells in February after buying 100,000 last year, but the South Korean government sought another source.

“After studying how to react to the blood ally’s request in good faith while maintaining to the government stance of not delivering deadly weapons to Ukraine,” an anonymous source said.

Seoul and Washington have acknowledged negotiations for an artillery supply deal, but no agreement has been reached.

South Korea’s defense ministry said the allies had discussed methods to assist Ukraine’s freedom but declined to provide details.

The State Department did not respond.

Foreign Minister Park Jin told reporters he could not confirm the newspaper allegation but maintained the government’s opposition to deadly aid for Ukraine.

Leaked highly classified U.S. military documents revealed South Korea’s difficulty with demands from Western allies to help give military equipment to Ukraine and its stance on keeping out of the crisis.

South Korea, a major artillery ammunition supplier, and U.S. ally, have avoided antagonizing Russia due to economic connections and Moscow’s leverage over North Korea.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is visiting Washington this month for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, said Seoul had not given deadly weaponry to Ukraine and would increase humanitarian help.

The country’s aid to Ukraine was revealed in leaked confidential papers earlier this year and reported on last week.

In the papers, senior South Korean presidential officials warned that artillery rounds sent to Washington would be transferred to Ukraine, despite Seoul’s claim that the U.S. military should be the “end user.”

According to a Reuters-leaked “Top Secret” briefing, Seoul “grappled with the U.S. proposal to send artillery ammo to Ukraine” in early March.

Former national security advisor Kim Sung-han “recommended the prospect of selling the 330,000 rounds of 155-mm munitions to Poland, as sending the ammunition to Ukraine rapidly was the ultimate aims of the United States,” it claimed.

“ROK 155 Supply Schedule,” a Feb. 27 “Secret” document reviewed by Reuters, stated that 153,600 155-mm rounds could be flown to Ukraine in 41 days.

Reuters could not independently verify the papers. However, U.S. officials claimed certain Ukrainian battlefield mortality counts appeared to understate Russian fatalities.

Seoul and Washington were rushing to stop the leak, alleging some of the papers were changed and inaccurate.

South Korea’s deputy national security advisor, Kim Tae-hyo, claimed the two countries agreed that a “significant number” of the disclosed papers were falsified.

“A third party is engaged in many sections of this matter, and there is no indication that the United States, which is our ally, has done anything to us with evil intentions,” Kim told reporters as he landed in Washington on Tuesday to discuss Yoon’s visit.