'Mistakenly', US could give $3bln more in arms for Ukraine

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
19 May 00:31
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A new discrepancy in valuing some of the weapons shipped to Ukraine results in a $3 billion overvaluation difference.

US Air Force Staff Sgt. Cody Brown with the 436th Aerial Port Squadron checking pallets of 155 mm shells ultimately bound for Ukraine, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del (AP)

The Pentagon has overestimated the worth of the weapons it has offered to Ukraine by at least $3 billion; a miscalculation that might negate the need to ask Congress for extra money to maintain the war in Ukraine this spring, according to reports by unnamed sources, cited by the Wall Street Journal.

"Accidentally", the Pentagon valued old equipment that existed in US stocks at the price of new equipment and thus, submitted a greater price value to at least some of the weapons that the Pentagon delivered to Ukraine, the sources claimed.

The discrepancy was discovered in March during an internal audit, and the Biden administration may no longer require more financing from Congress for the following year, according to the sources.

It is worth noting that since the start of the war in Ukraine, nearly $40 billion worth of military assistance has been given to Ukraine by the Pentagon. Given the newly-found discrepancies, announcements of military aid have been corrected to show the proper spending.

A Pentagon statement noted that "in some cases, the services used a replacement cost over the net book value cost, so thereby they overestimated the value of the equipment that was drawn down from the stocks."

Currently, and without accounting for the overestimation error, the Pentagon has approximately $2.7 billion remaining to spend on weaponizing Ukraine. The result of the overestimation has effectively now doubled that numbered to reach approximately $5.7 billion, and thus Pentagon argued that the White House needed to decide whether to return to Congress to request further funding for Ukraine aid.

According to Pentagon officials, the provision of those weapons was based on what the Pentagon had on hand in its inventory, not on ledger books, thus the wrong, higher value estimations did not unintentionally deprive Ukraine of the weapons its soldiers may have received under proper accounting.

“In no way did the overvaluation constrain our support to Ukraine,” the official said.

US says ready to provide Kiev with what it needs for counteroffensive

The Biden administration is ready to fill Ukraine's requirements to launch a counteroffensive against Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, May 11.

The US top diplomat underlined that his country was also determined to ensure the UK's supply of long-range missiles adds up to what Ukraine needs.

"If there are gaps, if there are shortages, they’ll tell us and we will make every effort to make good on them," Blinken told PBS when asked about US support for Ukraine's counteroffensive.

UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on the same day that all the Challenger 2 tanks that were promised to Kiev have arrived in Ukraine.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Wallace said all promised tanks and spare parts were successfully delivered to Kiev.

The official added that Ukrainian soldiers had conducted drills to learn how to operate the vehicles.