“Accounting error” that helps Ukraine

The Pentagon overestimated by about three billion dollars the value of the military equipment provided to Ukraine to help this country in the war with Russia, an “accounting error” that would allow the US to supply Kiev with more weapons and ammunition, two US officials told Reuters on Thursday. , from the Senate and the Defense Department, respectively.

According to these officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the error would consist in overestimating the value of the equipment taken from the stocks of the US army and delivered to Kiev. Thus, in accounting, the value of the replacement cost of the equipment was used, instead of the initial value reduced by depreciation.

As a result, President Joe Biden’s administration will now have financial leeway to increase military assistance to Ukraine, aid that must fit within the funds approved by Congress, where the Democratic president may not be able to easily obtain such increases. funds, especially in the context of the dispute with the Republicans over the public debt ceiling.

According to Politico.com, of the $48 billion financial package that the US Congress approved in December for military aid to Ukraine, only about $6 billion remained unspent, which means that these funds could run out by in the middle of summer.