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US military aid is unloaded from a plane at Boryspil International Airport outside Kiev, Ukraine, February 13, 2022. Photo/REUTERS/Serhiy Takhmazov
WASHINGTON – After sending $110 billion worth of military and financial aid to Ukraine over the course of a year, the United States (US) is making plans to send auditors and inspectors to Kiev so they don’t have to rely on second-hand reports.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the matter Friday citing Pentagon, State Department and USAID officials.
The inspectors general of the three respective agencies told the outlet that so far, supervision was carried out using staff in Poland and Germany.
After going to Kiev last month and meeting Ukrainian officials, they decided to send some of their own 177 auditors and investigators to Ukraine.
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The three met with the prime minister of Ukraine, the ministers of defense and finance, and the attorney general, Department of Defense IG Robert Storch told the WSJ.
He added, “They emphasized the US expectation for accountability, and also the importance of cooperating with our surveillance work.”
Diana Shaw, IG representative at the State Department, said, “The US has provided Ukraine with a large amount of aid in a very short period of time and any fraud, waste, abuse that would divert those funds from their intended destination risks jeopardizing the continuation of that aid flow.”
The US Congress allocates more than $113 billion in aid to Ukraine by 2022.
In addition to expensive weapons and ammunition systems, Washington has been sending cash to Kiev so that the Ukrainian government can continue to operate.
