Afrasianet - Western statements regarding Ukraine's finances, especially with regard to money and weapons, confirm that the situation is worse than what Al-Ghari is trying to hide.

State  Department spokesman Matthew Miller says the US considers "the situation on the battlefield  in Ukraine to be certainly difficult ... In terms of the request for additional funding, we are very concerned that the funds allocated to support Ukraine are close to running out."

Miller points out that of the funds initially allocated by Congress to US President Joe Biden, more than 97% of the total amount has already been spent.

 Earlier, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said  the situation in Ukraine could deteriorate and become worse due to insufficient aid from Western countries to the Kiev regime.

"We have to prepare to hear bad news. Conflicts develop in stages. But we must support Ukraine for better or for worse."

"There is no way around these calculations, if there is no funding to supply Ukraine with weapons, we simply cannot continue to supply Ukraine with weapons," Sullivan said at a news conference.

These statements and many others confirm that many European countries are no longer able to supply Ukraine with weapons despite US pressure on these countries.

On the other hand, these countries are aware that these weapons find their way to the black market as soon as they reach Ukraine. In independent investigations related to this matter, a special investigation was carried out, in which it was established that the Kiev regime was selling Western weapons obtained by Ukraine.

" A year ago we carried out a similar investigation. At that time we found a lot of offers on the Internet about the sale of weapons supplied to Ukraine from NATO countries. Photographs and videos were posted on the Internet showing samples of weapons that were already present at the front, filmed in combat formations, in trenches, and there were samples of weapons that are still new sealed in storage boxes that have just arrived in Ukraine from supplier countries."

Accordingly, on the sites of sale on the black market on the Internet, there is a huge variety - from rockets to small firearms. "All this weapon is sold to anyone who simply pays money."

"As part of the investigation, we found people in the Middle East who actually bought these weapons. There are recorded interviews with representatives of various organizations in the Middle East, in which they talked about how to buy something, who and when. These weapons have already been purchased."

It is certain that "some of the weapons sent to Ukraine have reached the Middle East, and are now being used against Israeli soldiers."

Months after news circulated that weapons had been stolen in Ukraine and directed to battlefields abroad, Kiev has taken a step that could confirm the authenticity of the trader, amid fears by its officials that the "corruption scandal" will reduce the support of its allies against Russia.

Ukrainian authorities have opened  an investigation in recent hours into the theft of weapons and ammunition stores on the eastern front, especially the Kharkiv region, registering them as "missing" in combat zones, and selling them to foreigners.

Military experts and researchers present to Sky News Arabia what they see as indicators  of Ukraine's transformation into a " black market" for the sale of weapons, and the impact of this on the coming periods of its NATO allies, especially with some of its allies suffering from a shortage of weapons.

Experts are likely  to delay arms shipments promised by Washington to reach Kiev for fear of selling them on  the black market, and there are examples of corruption indicators inside Ukraine in this file:

•    In 2021, Ukraine ranked 122nd on the "Corruption Index", which ranks 180 countries.
•    Republicans in the U.S. Congress have been skeptical of Ukrainian aid reaching the frontlines.
•    Interpol has expressed concern that weapons could fall into the hands of criminals in Europe and beyond.
•    Western weapons have been detected in hotbeds of conflict in the Middle East and Africa.
•    Western reports indicate that only 30 percent of the weapons provided to Kiev reach their final destination.
•    Washington is unable to trace weapons after entering Ukraine.

The United States has allocated $23 billion in military support to Ukraine since the war began in February 2022, while Britain has allocated $3.700 million, Germany $1.4 billion, and Poland $1.8 billion, other than support from other countries.

Academic Samar Radwan, deputy editor-in-chief of the Moscow-based Realist think tank, agrees that "Western support for Kiev will indeed be affected by the theft of weapons and their sale on the black market, and Ukraine's history  as an arms smuggling hub is not cause for optimism."

According to the researcher, all statistics and information on the ground revealed that Western weapons reach two routes in Ukraine, which have no third; the first: sale and trade, whether at the level of military leaders in large quantities or individuals, who are recruited.

The other way is to burn off, lest the weapons fall into the hands of Russian forces and expose their means of communication.

The deputy editor-in-chief of Realist expressed surprise that Ukrainian President Voladimir Zelensky continues to urge Washington and Europe to supply him with new and heavy weapons, amid this "uncomfortable reality for allies regarding the fate of these weapons."

In January, John Sopko, inspector general of the Afghanistan Reconstruction Authority in the United States, said that in a matter of years people would know and read stories about money in Ukraine being defrauded, wasted and wasted.

Sopko, who has spent nearly a decade allocating millions of U.S. dollars misspent in Afghanistan, added: "Even when it comes to a noble cause, thefts inevitably happen, as well as misconduct, along with other things like nepotism and stupid decisions, which are very human nature."

But why do the United States and its allies insist on continuing to supply Ukraine with weapons even though they know all these facts? One expert explains this by saying, "Many leaders or influential people in countries supplying these weapons benefit from this in two ways:

First: Obtaining generous commissions from arms manufacturers

Second: Obtaining a share of the prices of weapons sold on the black market.

On the other hand, the United States complains about the depletion of its stockpile of weapons reserves, and when it pressures its allies, or rather its Western followers, to fill the arms financing vacuum, they also complain of the same reason, so what to do?

Information says that the United States of America has begun to exert pressure on some Arab countries to fund Ukraine with weapons. Although this is not in the interest of these countries, they may succeed in this endeavor, as many of the American bases scattered on the map of the Arab world contain weapons that the United States stores for need, some of which go to Israel, while others can go to the likeness of Israel, the protégé of the United States of America, i.e. Ukraine.