White House: We’re Working on Ukraine Aid Oversight, But It’s ‘Extreme’ to Expect to Account for Every Bullet

On Thursday’s edition of NBC’s “MTP Now,” White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby stated that the administration is working extremely hard to ensure that defense aid to Ukraine is being used properly, but “it’s being used in a war, and war is unpredictable. And so, the idea that every single bullet can be perfectly accounted for, I think is an extreme concern here.” And once the equipment gets into Ukraine, it belongs to them.

Host Kristen Welker asked, “Are you satisfied, is the administration satisfied, Admiral, with the level of accountability that you have seen from Ukraine, effectively, how the weapons are being used?”

Kirby responded, “We are constantly working with the Ukrainians on the issue of oversight, and we have staffed up the embassy in Kyiv with additional folks from the Department of Defense to help the Ukrainians with improving oversight and accountability. So, we all recognize that there’s a desire for that. We’ve shared that desire from the very beginning, because we know this is expensive material and we want to make sure that it’s being used appropriately. Once it gets into Ukraine, it is going into a war zone, it belongs to the Ukrainians, that’s point number one. And number two, it’s being used in a war, and war is unpredictable. And so, the idea that every single bullet can be perfectly accounted for, I think is an extreme concern here. But we obviously do share the concerns of members of Congress about accountability and we are working very hard with Ukraine to that end.”

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