During a CNN town hall on Thursday evening, Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), confirmed that there is no evidence of Ukraine misusing the financial assistance provided by the United States, The Hill reported.
Power acknowledged that corruption has been a persistent issue in Ukraine since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but highlighted the progress that the country has made in recent years toward rooting out corruption.
“Up until this point, we don’t have any evidence that U.S. assistance is being misused or misspent but, again, the key is not resting on anybody’s goodwill or virtue,” Power said when asked about Ukraine’s corruption tendencies in the past. “It’s checks and balances, the rule of law, the integrity of officials.”
She further stated that officials are constantly monitoring the proper utilization of funds by Ukraine and that the country’s institutions fighting corruption have seen significant improvements since 2014 when then-President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from office amid widespread protests over his ties to Russia.
According to the leader of USAID, Ukraine has witnessed an improvement in its institutional ability to combat corruption since 2014 when then-President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from office amidst massive protests over his strong links with Russia.
Additionally, the leader noted that the U.S. Government Accountability Office has initiated a new program aimed at assisting Ukraine in expanding its auditing capacity, which she believes will be crucial in the country’s reconstruction efforts.
Power noted that the United States doesn’t offer resources such as compensating healthcare workers or furnishing disability support to Ukraine unless they receive documentation of an expense and operate on a basis of reimbursing Ukraine for its expenses.
Meanwhile, several Republicans who have expressed skepticism regarding ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine have cast doubts about the utilization of the funds being sent to the country.
Last month, Zelensky ousted some officials from his administration as part of an anti-corruption drive, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov also reshuffled some of his top staff this month following allegations of corruption in his department.
