Western weapons won’t end up in enemy hands as it happened in early 2000s with Iraq and Afghanistan – Yermak

KYIV. Aug 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has implemented levels of control and accountability to ensure oversight of assistance provided to Ukraine by Western countries, head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak wrote in a column for Newsweek.

“After September 11, 2001, the United States and its allies and partners funneled hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of military equipment to Afghanistan and Iraq. Unfortunately, some of this assistance ended up in enemy hands. This will never happen in Ukraine, not least because Ukraine has already shown something found in neither of those countries—a will to fight for ourselves,” Yermak said.

“This assistance is a matter of life and death for us, and I can assure the American people and their elected representatives that Zelensky and his administration view the weapons’ effective deployment as not only a top priority but a sacred duty we have before the Ukrainian people. That is why Zelensky has implemented layers of control and accountability to ensure oversight of the assistance provided to Ukraine,” the head of the President’s Office stressed.

Yermak noted that on an intergovernmental basis, the President of Ukraine and his team of advisers regularly meet with representatives of the countries providing this assistance to report on where and how this assistance is used.

He recalled that a special commission has been established in the Verkhovna Rada to monitor and control all foreign aid provided to Ukraine, which includes representatives of each parliamentary faction. In addition, the Verkhovna Rada delegates hold virtual meetings with their colleagues from Europe almost weekly to make sure that the legislative bodies have the necessary information to perform their supervisory functions.

"The government is also organizing briefings for relevant U.S. congressional committees on security assistance oversight, and we are cooperating closely with the newly arrived U.S. defense attaché Brigadier General Garrick M. Harmon. Rest assured, he will have unprecedented levels of access and support from the Zelensky administration," Yermak stressed.

“The security assistance provided by the American people is vital for us to complete our mission and make sure this conflict does not spread further. A victory for Ukraine will be a victory for the United States and all democracies,” the head of the President’s Office noted.