President Joe Biden has sent around $35 billion to Ukraine in almost 18 months. Imagine how many people that money could feed here in America.
Ukraine wants more money since it’s launching a new counteroffensive against Russia.
Well, our Pentagon just happened to find an accounting error that allowed them to send another $6.2 billion to Ukraine. I’m not kidding:
SINGH: “Once we discovered this misvaluation, the Comptroller reissued guidance on March 31st clarifying how to value equipment in line with the financial management regulation and DOD policy to ensure we use the most accurate of accounting methods. We have confirmed that for F.Y. ’23 the final calculation is $3.6 billion and for F.Y. ’22 it is $2.6 billion, for a combined total of $6.2 billion. These valuation errors in no way limit or restricted the size of any of our PDAs or impacted the provision of support to Ukraine, and while the DOD — while the DOD retains the authority to utilize the recaptured PDA, this has no bearing on appropriated USAI or Ukraine PDA replenishment funding approved by Congress.”
The discovery also just happened to occur towards the end of the fiscal year, and Congress doesn’t have as much money on hand to dole out.
The $6.2 billion also allows the U.S. to meet its pledge of $40 billion to Ukraine:
Based on previous estimates announced June 13, the U.S. had committed more than $40 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded. Using the new calculation, the U.S. has actually provided less than $34 billion in aid.Officials have not been able to give exact totals for the amount of money that remains for the drawdowns or for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides longer-term funding to purchase weapons, including some of the larger air defense systems.The U.S. has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the frontlines. Congress approved the latest round of aid in December, totaling roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies. While the package was designed to last through the end of the fiscal year in September, much depends upon events on the ground, particularly as the new counteroffensive ramps up.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY