The Pentagon said it will be able to spend $6 billion more than originally expected on arms for Ukraine thanks to what it called accounting errors.
The Defense Department overstated the value of weapons sent from its stockpiles by $2.6 billion in fiscal 2022 and $3.6 billion in fiscal 2023, for a total of $6.2 billion, deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon.
"It's just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated" for Ukraine, she said, adding that it doesn't alter the total amount of support authorized by Congress.
Singh attributed the error to "inconsistencies in equipment valuation," with military services using "replacement cost" for equipment transferred to Ukraine rather than the "net book value." Previous reports pegged the valuation difference in the $3 billion range.
The latest figures are "final," Singh said.
Although President Joe Biden has said consistently that the U.S. and its allies will back Ukraine against Russia's invasion for as long as needed, some Republican lawmakers have objected to the cost and indefinite timeline of security assistance. With no end in sight for the war, the administration faces the prospect of seeking additional money over such opposition once current funding runs out.
Ukraine's government has pushed for more assistance as it conducts a long-awaited counteroffensive to eject dug-in Russian forces from more of its territory. Officials from Kyiv's key allies gather in London this week to discuss funding for reconstruction of the country.
