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Pentagon pressured to keep track of US weapons in Ukraine — Analysis

A US military officer stated that Russia should withdraw its troops to stop arms diversion.

Politico reports that the Pentagon is under pressure from US legislators to strengthen oversight of American weapons being sent to Ukraine as part of the new $40 billion aid package. According to the Department of Defense, Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine is the best option to stop the weapons getting in the wrong hands.

“Risk of diversion is one of many considerations that we routinely assess when evaluating any potential arms transfer,”Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Anton Semelroth spoke to the news outlet when asked about oversight concerns. “In this case, risk would be considerably minimized by the full withdrawal from Ukraine by Russian forces.”

US Army was “confident in the Ukrainian government’s ability to appropriately safeguard and account for transferred US-origin defense equipment,”Semelroth has been added.

This comment came amid rising skepticism from US lawmakers about its ability to provide accountability for the use of the US Congress’s billions for Ukraine assistance.

Senator Elizabeth Warren was a member the Armed Services Committee and warned the Pentagon about the need for accountability. “critically important for both past and future funding requests.”Elle said that the DoD owed legislators “several years”She was able to provide a number of detailed reports about European security programs. “getting sick of the run-around here,”Politico.

Interpol issues Ukrainian weapons warning

Rand Paul shared similar sentiments when he stalled approval of the $40billion military aid package in order to add a clause for inspection by an inspector general. He is a fiscal hawk and was one of the eleven senators who voted against it.

Russia warns that Western powers’ pouring arms into Ukraine poses the risk of these weapons being misused for any number of evil purposes. Interpol shared the same concerns on Wednesday. They stated that criminal organisations were seeking illicit weapons from Ukraine.

It has been known that the US is prone to losing track of arms it smuggles into conflict areas in pursuit of its political ends. Syria was a case in point. Washington armed and trained anti-government rebel groups with the goal of overthrowing President Bashar Al-Assad. Some arms including anti-tank weapons ended up being sold to terrorist groups, while others were funnelled to the black marketplace.

Ruben Gallego is a member the Armed Services Committee and he spoke to Politico about past issues with American arms. But “Ukraine is a different story,”He said that he believed the Ukrainian government would protect American weapon systems.

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