Finding enough weapons to cover budget for Ukraine aid bill could pose problem for US, ambassador says
The US may not provide Ukraine with all the weaponry and equipment as specified in the draft law on aid to Ukraine.
Ukraine's Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova said in an interview with European Pravda that the approved budget for military aid to Ukraine means an opportunity to obtain a lot of equipment for this amount.
"But the second question is, is this equipment available? Will we find, and produce enough equipment quickly enough to get it?" Markarova noted.
She pointed out that this question has always been relevant.
"There are programmes under which we can get this equipment, buy it, or receive it from depots.
And second, how quickly do we find it, check it, and restore it to a condition in which the American military can deliver it?" the ambassador said, adding that time for training is also needed when receiving new equipment.
Markarova also recalled that almost US$4 billion remained from the previous budget, but they were allocated for a category for which all the weapons had already been selected, and the Pentagon had nothing to replace the lost stocks with.
She said that the adoption of the bill on assistance to Ukraine solves the funding issue.
"But does this mean that equipment for all US$23 billion (under the scheme of the president's authority to allocate weapons – ed.) is ready for delivery? Unfortunately, no. So we are looking for it as quickly as possible, and the USA is also looking for it not only in the USA, for which a group which we at home call Ramstein (the Ukraine Defence Contact Group – ed.), is assembled monthly," the ambassador said.
She added that the US actively helps other countries to deliver, buy, and do what is needed to get military aid to Ukraine.
Earlier, Markarova did not rule out that the first package of US weapons under the new legislation passed by the Congress may arrive in Ukraine as early as April.
Markarova also stated that she had not received any official notifications from Washington prohibiting Kyiv from striking Russian oil refineries with its own weapons.