kyiv slams calls to monitor US military aid to Ukraine — RT Russia and the former Soviet Union
Trying to verify where exactly the aid is going would only help Moscow, says Ukraine
Kyiv reacted angrily to a call by US Congresswoman Victoria Spartz (R-Ind) to “Establish proper oversight” on arms and aid supplies to Ukraine. The idea is to try to « undermine » existing mechanisms for delivering aid to Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Saturday.
Spartz’s stance is particularly cynical given the congresswoman’s Ukrainian background, Nikolenko noted in a Facebook post.
“The member should stop undermining existing mechanisms for US military assistance to Ukraine. The Ukrainian side interacts with its American partners with maximum openness, providing them with full information on the use of technology,” said the spokesperson, saying that « greater bureaucratization » of the process would only help Moscow.
Representative Spartz sent a stern message to US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this week, telling them to at least take « three urgent actions » she thinks it would help « Keep the situation under control. » According to Sparta, Biden must « Stop playing politics, have a clear strategy and align security aid with our strategy. » Zelensky should « Stop doing politics and theater » and « begin to rule » In place « to better support its military and local governments. » The third point, related to the establishment of a monitoring mechanism, apparently angered kyiv the most.
“Congress must establish proper oversight of critical infrastructure and the delivery of arms and aid,” Sparta said.
Putting in place a mechanism to monitor how aid money would actually be spent had already been demanded by US politicians. Last May, for example, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul delayed passage of Ukraine’s massive $40 billion bill, calling for the creation of an oversight mechanism. Aid money would have been better spent back home, Paul argued at the time.
« My oath of office is to the United States Constitution, not to any foreign nation, and no matter how sympathetic the cause, my oath of office is to the national security of the United States of America. We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the American economy,” said the senator.
After the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine erupted in late February, Washington has become, by far, kyiv’s main arms supplier. According to new figures from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IFW), the United States has pledged some 6.37 billion euros in military aid. However, it has actually provided less than half that amount – some 2.44 billion euros in military aid – so far, according to IFW statistics. The figures, however, include « Leaked Deliveries » only and the actual scale of the material delivered could be larger, since some supplies could arrive in secret.
The « best » performance in terms of sending arms to Ukraine was achieved by Poland, according to IFW figures. The country has delivered all the armaments worth 1.8 billion euros that it had promised.
Moscow has repeatedly urged the West not to supply more weapons to kyiv, warning that this would only prolong the conflict and lead to long-term negative consequences. Last week, senior Russian diplomat Sergei Lavrov said that continuing to « inflate » Ukraine with weapons would only incite Russia « to perform more field missions. »
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