US Equipment to Ukraine to Remain Under Ukrainian Control – US Senator

US Senator Lindsey Graham says that the equipment the United States provides to Ukraine will not fall out of their control.

 

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — There is always a risk that weapons will be misappropriated during conflicts, but the equipment the United States provides to Ukraine will not fall out of their control, US Senator Lindsey Graham told Sputnik in response to reports of US-supplied counter-artillery radar systems falling out of the control of the Ukrainian military.

"There’s always a concern that when you have an unstable situation some of the weapons get misappropriated," Graham said on Tuesday, but added that "the equipment we’re providing them [the Ukraine government forces] is not going to fall out of their control."

The Senator restated his position on providing lethal aid to Ukraine saying, "if we provided weapons to their military with our military helping them understand how to use the weapons — that would be the right decision."

Graham said that the United States, a signatory of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, has “legal obligations” to give the Ukrainians defensive weapons.

US House of Representatives introduced new legislation authorized $1 billion military and lethal aid to Ukraine through 2017 on Tuesday.