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The war in Ukraine is now more than 100 days old, displacing an estimated 13 million Ukrainians with no end in sight.

But the Ukrainians have so far held onto large parts of the country, largely because of weapons sent from the West that have bolstered the military to give it a fighting chance against the Russians.

While Australia has sent $200 million in weapons and Bushmaster vehicles, it is just a fraction of the amount of military aid committed by the US.

According to the Center for International Policy (CIP) a US-based group monitoring US military spending and weapons Congress has approved $US54 billion ($70 billion)in aid to Ukraine since the invasion onFebruary 24.

The billions of dollars' worth of foreign weapons sent to Ukraine has given them a fighting chance against Russia,but could they fall into the wrong hands?

"If you look at the scale and magnitude and speed, it's really staggering," Hanna Homestead, an associate from CIP, told ABC News Daily.

"When you think about comparing that to some other things in the US budget, our space agency NASA's budget is only $US24 billion ($35 billion)."

"We only allocated $US1 billion ($1.44 billion) to climate finance, which has really important effects in countries all over the world."

Last week, the US pledged another $US1 billion ($1.44 billion)in weapons and aid for Ukraine, amid an urgent call from Kyiv for more advanced arms.

The new package was announced after a meeting with allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels and includes a commitment of more long-range artillery and for the first time anti-ship missile launchers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the commitment, saying it further strengthened the nation's defence.

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"I am grateful for this support. Itis especially important for our defence in Donbas," he said after the announcement.

According to CIP, $US26 billion ($37 billion) of the total funding has been spent on military aid alone. This includes an increase in lethal aid, which translates to helicopters, drones, high-mobility artillery rocket systems, howitzers, javelins, rifles and ammunition.

"This has certainly been the most amount of aid that the US has provided any country, and certainly even more than the aid that we sent to Afghanistan during the height of reconstruction," Ms Homestead said.

She noted a turning point in April when the United Statesstarted to transfer weapons that required training by American soldiers.

"And so that kind of commitment to sending that equipment and sending that training showed an escalation in how the United States is thinking about the kind of support that it was going to provide to Ukraine," she said.

The US Congress has passed two bills allowing President Joe Biden to quickly supply and loan weapons to Ukraine.

Congress approved a bill for emergency funding for Ukraine in March that included traditional foreign and military aid, while a second bill for $40 billion ($58billion) was passed in May.

Hannah Homestead said that included $US19 billion ($27 billion) for immediate military support, while $US9 billion ($13 billion)was committed to replenishing US weapons stocks.

Senator Rand Paul, of Kentucky, attempted to alter the second bill, requiring an inspector-general to monitor the spending and weapons deployment. He failed, with congress approving the bill without it.

"The oversight is very tricky," Ms Homestead said.

"There are a lot of risks and implications when sending weapons into a war zone, especially this huge quantity in an emergency situation.

"There are a lot of concerns around tracking and making sure these weapons end up where they're supposed to belong and don't fall into the wrong hands."

CIP is also concerned about the possibility of weapons trafficking.

"Ukraine in particular has a history of an illicit arms trade that really took off actually in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. And these arms were in Ukraine and have actually ended up in places all over the world," Ms Homestead said.

So far the US congress has approved funding until September.

"I do certainly know the amount of weapons and also the amount of humanitarian support, refugee support we've provided Ukraine thus far has certainly made a huge difference," Ms Homestead said.

"I'm actually not quite sure what the prospects are in terms of the longevity [of the war]if we were to cut off aid."

The UK, Germany, Canada, Belgium and France are also among the nations that have supplied Ukraine with weapons and military equipment.

Posted7h ago7 hours agoSun 19 Jun 2022 at 7:42pm, updated2h ago2 hours agoMon 20 Jun 2022 at 12:27am

Original post:
Is excessive funding from the US escalating the conflict with Russia in Ukraine? - ABC News