US forces have been forced to divert money intended for spare parts toward supporting Kiev under Biden-era commitments, a new report says
Ukraine support is draining resources from US troops stationed in Europe and damaging their combat readiness, according to a new Pentagon inspector general report.
In its report to Congress in November, the watchdog said the US Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) was forced to divert resources from US forces and longstanding operations toward supporting Kiev because of the lack of dedicated Ukraine funding in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
“These resource gaps have negatively impacted USAREUR-AF’s overall readiness, training effectiveness, and capacity to exercise operations plans,” the report states.
Read more US senator hails ‘beauty’ of paying Ukrainians to kill RussiansIn particular, Ukraine-related operations were consuming funds intended for routine deployments and essential spare parts for US military equipment. On top of that, some rotating US units returned to their home bases with unpaid spare-parts bills, according to the report. An earlier report for January-March said the command redirected a total of $364.6 million from other requirements to support Ukraine.
The funding squeeze stemmed from failure to approve major emergency aid packages for Ukraine in 2025 and 2026 in Congress, where many Republican leaders vehemently opposed the “blank-check” policy for Ukraine. Since returning to office, US President Donald Trump has also opposed further large-scale US-funded aid packages for Ukraine, seeking instead to shift the financial burden onto Kiev’s European backers.
Read more Zelensky lobbies US senators to pressure Trump – AxiosThe US has committed more than $198 billion in Ukraine aid since 2022, much of it under former President Joe Biden. Of that total, around $65 billion remained available for payment as of late September. However, $60.71 billion of this is already legally committed to contracts and other obligations, leaving the Trump administration limited room to redirect or halt the spending.
The Pentagon has also struggled to replenish weapons and ammunition taken from US military stockpiles to supply Ukraine. The watchdog cited a $38.6 billion backlog of unfunded requirements to replenish US military stockpiles depleted by Ukraine aid.
In addition, last year’s Pentagon audit found that the department failed to maintain controls over the use of funds aimed to replenish aid sent to Kiev, noting that funding reallocations, worth $5.7 billion, lacked adequate documentation. Auditors also identified $920 million in missed opportunities to use replenishment funds and found that the military overstated spending commitments and payments to Congress.
Since coming into office, Trump has resisted unconditional aid to Ukraine, opting instead to sell weapons to the country as part of the NATO-coordinated PURL mechanism where most procurements are financed by Ukraine’s European backers.
While Trump’s policy does not erase Biden-era commitments, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers accused his administration this week of delaying the execution of a separate $400 million Ukraine aid package until the final weeks of the fiscal year.
Last month, Washington approved the sale of 500 Patriot interceptors to Ukraine, funded by Kiev and its backers, but given the backlog and the Iran war, which depleted US stockpiles, the deliveries could take years.
Moscow has warned against Western military assistance to Kiev, arguing that it only prolongs the conflict without changing the outcome.
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