< p _ngcontent-sc100="" class="news-annotation">U.S. auditors are checking how Ukraine uses U.S. military and financial aid. However, this check is not related to the procurement scandal at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

This opinionChannel 24 was expressed by political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko. According to him, the work of American auditors in Ukraine is a common thing.

According to Fesenko, the US conducted an audit in 2022, because at that time representatives of the Republican Party had questions about how Ukraine uses military assistance.

C what is the reason for the visit of auditors from the United States to Ukraine

According to the political scientist, at that time the Americans checked:

• the system of internal audit in Ukraine;
• the system for monitoring the supply of weapons ;
• the presence of certain types of weapons.

The political scientist believes that a similar audit will be carried out now.

Inspections are also carried out in the current mode, but recent events have caused an additional action. This is not connected only with current events (scandal in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine – Channel 24). It's about domestic political problems in the administration of the US President, Fesenko emphasized.

He added that additional military aid audits are being influenced by US leader Joe Biden's relationship with the new Republican Party majority in Congress.

or exchanges”

Fesenko noted that so far there is no evidence that Ukraine has problems in terms of using Western weapons.

Now we are not talking about any exchanges. Like, we will conduct an audit, and only then you will get help. We will continue to receive military support. The geopolitical interest of the United States is at work here,” the political scientist said.

He added that such visits by auditors should be taken quite standardly.

“The US leadership understands that we are talking about the money of their citizens. The effectiveness of Ukrainian resistance also depends on military assistance. Therefore, they will check. This is a normal policy for USA and EU,” Fesenko said.

Anti-corruption policy in Ukraine is a Western priority

At the same time, according to Fesenko, anti-corruption policy in Ukraine remains one of the priorities for our Western partners, in particular for the EU. The political scientist noted that the emergence of anti-corruption institutions in Ukraine was partly due to the pressure of our partners.

Although there is no question of any exchanges in matters of military assistance, as Fesenko noted, there were situations when the West put forward requirements for Ukraine.

“When the issue of a visa-free regime for Ukraine was being decided, there was a certain exchange. Then the West actually put pressure on the leadership of Ukraine to implement a number of legislative and personnel decisions,” the political scientist said.

Anti-corruption agencies have become more active in Ukraine

He added that Ukraine's Western partners continue to actively push Kyiv to fight corruption.

When Ukraine was granted the status of a candidate member of the EU, they offered a list of 7 tasks that Kyiv must complete. And several of them concerned precisely the anti-corruption policy, – the political scientist emphasized.

He added that after that, the anti-corruption authorities in Ukraine significantly increased their activity. In particular, it was possible to elect a new head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. The next task for Ukraine is to close the issue with the competition for the director of NABU.

Audit of US military aid: in brief

• After the announcement of the providing Ukraine with significant military assistance, American auditors arrived in Kyiv. They will monitor the use of US military aid.
• As Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said, US auditors are working in Kyiv to make sure “aid or weapons are not diverted.”
• The US has created an institution to investigate fraud and corruption in military aid in Ukraine. This work will be carried out with the help of investigators – both own and external law enforcement specialists from the United States and Europe.