Ukraine ambassador says Kyiv not concerned about GOP spending scrutiny

by Olafimihan Oshin - 12/18/22 5:47 PM ET

Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova said on Sunday that her government is not concerned about increasing GOP scrutiny of spending on Ukraine as Republicans prepare to take the House majority.

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” co-anchor Martha Raddatz asked Markarova whether she was worried about the new balance of power in Washington and calls for increased oversight of financial and military support for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

“No. We actually welcome all the transparency and accountability, and we are working with Congress on a very strong bipartisan basis,” Markarova told Raddatz.

“And there is a number of systems already in place,” she added, citing NATO’s accountability system and full reporting on international budget support.

“So, we look forward to continuing doing that. And, actually, we really count on Congress’s continued support, especially for 2023,” Markarova said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the likely next Speaker of the House, has promised to ramp up accounting of U.S. spending in Ukraine, citing the need to focus on domestic problems.

Far-right members of the party, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), have gone as far as to pledge that the GOP will completely end funding for Ukraine’s defense against Russia. However, most in the party have focused their calls on scrutiny while promising continued support for Kyiv.

In 2022, the U.S. has directed some $50 billion to Ukraine, including defense, humanitarian and financial support, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Despite some GOP skepticism of the spending, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers who traveled to Kyiv this month put their support behind Ukrainian government requests for more air defense systems, munitions, drones and military training.

The Biden administration asked Congress last month to approve $37 billion to Ukraine as part of government funding talks that will continue this coming week.

The massive defense spending bill passed this past week includes another $800 million in security assistance for Ukraine, as well as $10 billion to Taiwan through 2027.