USA: The $113 billion in military and economic aid given to Ukraine has been demanded by the House Oversight Committee to show that it is not being lost to "waste, fraud, and abuse." The Pentagon, State Department, and US Agency for International Development must provide this proof.
James Comer, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and USAID Administrator Samantha Power in a letter to turn over all correspondence and documents pertaining to any programmes for providing the Ukrainian government with financial and military support.
Additionally, Comer's committee is seeking documentation of the Biden administration's plans to link aid deliveries to anti-corruption campaigns as well as information on how the administration measures the effectiveness of its aid drive.
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According to the letter, Biden's representatives have until March 8 to present all the documentation going all the way back to the beginning of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine last February.
There is a risk of fraud, waste, and abuse when providing security and humanitarian aid for fighting wars and rebuilding, Comer wrote. "The United States must recognise these risks and create control systems to lessen them."
John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, stated in January that the administration had "not seen any signs" that military or economic aid "has fallen prey to any kind of corruption in Ukraine," but a number of reports from the nation point to the contrary.
While reports from last year - supported by Amnesty International - suggested that as little as 30% of Western weapons sent to Ukraine were actually making it to the front lines, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky fired a number of top officials for profiteering from foreign aid last month.
At the time, American and Canadian officials acknowledged that they had no idea where the majority of these weapons were going. A US intelligence source told CNN that once the weapons enter Ukraine, they vanish "into a big black hole."
Although before his party regained control of the House of Representatives in November, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy issued a warning that the GOP would no longer "write a blank check" for Kiev, Republicans in Congress have generally supported President Joe Biden's policy of arming Ukraine.
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Although a small number of anti-intervention Republicans have proposed legislation that would completely cut off Kiev from US funding, Comer's letter does not call for a suspension of US aid.
