Defense Department officials reassured members of Congress on Feb. 28 that there was no evidence of the misuse or diversion of weapons the U.S. had provided to Ukraine in its war with Russia. Celeste Wallander, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, declared at a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee that “the U.S. government has not seen credible evidence of any diversion of U.S. provided weapons outside of Ukraine.”
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also emphasized at an oversight hearing of the House Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department had not seen “any signs of diversion or that the Ukrainians are not following procedure.” He added that Russian soldiers may have captured equipment on the battlefield, but that “we are not seeing any evidence of systemic diversion of the equipment that the United States has provided.”
The comments come in response to a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to increase oversight of the spending of billions of dollars in aid the U.S. has provided to Ukraine over the past year. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced legislation to establish a special inspector general to ensure that funds provided to Ukraine are “appropriately spent.” The bill would equip the special inspector general with $20 million of the funds already set aside for Ukraine to conduct oversight and would terminate the position once appropriations for Ukraine drop below $250 million per year.
Following President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine on Feb. 20, the administration announced additional actions it would be taking to support the war-torn nation and “hold Russia accountable,” including providing an additional $2 billion in military aid and imposing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia. The Defense Department stated that the U.S. will “continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements for as long as it takes.”