US wants to send observers to war zone in Ukraine to track aid
Senior officials responsible for overseeing the use of more than US$110 billion in US military and economic aid to Ukraine have said they will insist on sending auditors and investigators directly to the war zone to strengthen monitoring.
Source: Senior US officials in a joint interview with The Wall Street Journal; European Pravda
Details: Until now, officials said, they have been able to perform important oversight tasks remotely, using staff based in Washington, Poland and Germany.
But after the inspectors travelled to Kyiv in late January, they said they would insist that some of the 177 auditors and investigators scrutinising the aid be on the ground in Ukraine.
"I think we have been as creative and you know, out of the box, forward-leaning with the oversight we’ve been able to accomplish so far. But for real comprehensive, robust oversight, it can’t be done remotely," said Nicole Angarella, acting deputy USAID inspector general.
These three officials are responsible for, among other things, ensuring that US weapons are not diverted, that taxpayer funds are not stolen, and that aid programs are functioning properly.
Officials said that while it is early days, they have not received any reports of serious fraud or illegal activity related to US aid to Ukraine, which ranges from expensive weapons systems to cash that helps keep the economy going.
But they also acknowledged that the sheer size of the US aid package and the speed with which it was appropriated by Congress poses challenges.
"One of my colleagues said ‘We're doing oversight at the speed of war, right’?" said Defence Department Inspector General Robert Storch. "And so we have to be agile."
Inspectors general usually labor in the background, issuing reports months or years after federal government funds have been spent. But the scale of Ukraine aid is placing unusual scrutiny on the work of the three officials and their teams.
"It’s an incredibly large amount of assistance to flow to a single government or to a single purpose" in a "very short time," said Diana Shaw, deputy inspector general at the State Department. "Any fraud, waste, abuse that would divert that funding from its intended purpose risks jeopardizing the continued flow of that assistance."
In the meetings in Kyiv, which included Ukraine's prime minister, defence and finance ministers and prosecutor general, the inspectors general emphasised "U.S. expectations for accountability, and also the importance of cooperation with our oversight work," Mr. Storch said.
In 2022, Congress appropriated more than US$113 billion in assistance to Ukraine, according to government documents.
Background:
The US is preparing a new US$10 billion aid package to support the Ukrainian government.
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