National security adviser for the Biden administration Jake Sullivan defends a “accounting error” that led to an overestimation of the cost of the weapons and supplies provided to Ukraine. This error has resulted in an additional $3 billion in help being given to the nation that is fighting for its existence.
According to Reuters, which cited two Defense Department officials, the mistake resulted from giving weapons that were withdrawn from American stores and sent to Ukraine a greater value than was justified. “We’ve discovered inconsistencies in how we value the equipment that we’ve given,” stated one of the authorities.
The latest value adjustments may delay Biden’s appeal for Congress to approve further aid, which is good news for Ukraine. Since August 2021, more than $21 billion in military assistance has already been given.
In an interview with Sullivan on Sunday, CNN anchor Jake Tapper inquired about the blunder and its potential implications. “There was this very bizarre admission from the Pentagon this week of an accounting error that suggested that the U.S. $3 billion that it didn’t know it has, that it can use, for Ukraine aid. That’s a hell of an accounting error,” Tapper said.
When questioned if he was worried about the error, Sullivan responded in the negative and framed the incident as a success. “Well one thing I just wanna make clear, that is not money that just went out the door and disappeared, that is not a waste of that 3-billion-dollars,” Sullivan said. “It is simply a tally of how much military equipment we have given them.”
“And the way that the Pentagon was counting it was, ‘what’s the replacement cost for the equipment we provide,’ rather than just the actual cost of that equipment. Once you make that adjustment, it turns out that we have an additional 3-billion-dollars that we can spend to provide even more weapons to Ukraine,” he continued.
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