Ukraine has signed a deal to deliver $550 million worth of arms to Iraq, an official said, in what local media said was part of the country's largest-ever arms deal.

Ukrainian arms firms will sell around 400 armoured vehicles and 10 An-32 transport planes to Iraq's military, said Stepan Havrish, the deputy head of the council of national security and defence council, Interfax news agency reported.

Delo, a Ukranian daily, reported on Thursday that Kiev had negotiated a $2.4 billion deal with the Iraqi government, to be financed by the United States, which would be the largest arms deal in Ukraine's history.

A centre for arms production in the former Soviet Union, Ukraine remains a major exporter of armoured vehicles and anti-missile defence systems. – Reuters