US to send Kyiv first $268.7 million of arms freed by $8.3 billion ‘accounting error’

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s administration will announce US$200 million (S$268.7 million) of new weapons aid for Ukraine as soon as Tuesday, two US officials said on Monday, as it begins to dole out US$6.2 billion of funds discovered after a Pentagon accounting error overvalued billions of Ukraine aid.

In May, the Pentagon announced it had mistakenly assigned a higher-than-warranted value to the US weaponry shipped to Kyiv when staff used “replacement value” instead of “depreciated value” to tabulate the billions worth of ammunition, missiles and other equipment sent to Ukraine.

Ukraine needs weaponry that can be shipped from US stocks in a matter of days or weeks, so that it can keep up its fight to repel Russia’s invasion. The accounting error worked to Kyiv’s benefit because more equipment can be sent.

Beginning to use these discovered funds is significant because they represent the last of the previously congressionally authorised US$25.5 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) the administration can utilise to ship weapons from US stocks in the event of an emergency, the United States officials said.

Washington is currently working on a supplemental budget request to continue to aid Kyiv, the officials said.

Tuesday’s expected announcement of US$200 million would be the first tranche of the US$6.2 billion windfall of previously authorised PDA, the officials said.

Included in this package were items such as mine-clearing equipment, anti-tank weapons, guns and ammunition, air defence interceptors made by Lockheed Martin for the Patriot missile system, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets and Javelin anti-tank missiles made by a joint venture between Lockheed and RTX Corp. REUTERS