The accusation is that the amount offered by the third party black-market purchaser, later revealed to be Iran, was an additional $55 million to the sum offered by the United States.

There was no defrauding of Moldova.

The United States in my view has a responsibility in this case -- it is about the relationship between us and Moldova and the accusation that the United States took advantage of a small and weak country -- which is not the case.

We did not buy these planes to increase American military capacity -- we bought them to prevent them from being a threat in some other part of the world and to help Moldova when they needed it.

What we're dealing with is a government in Chisinau (the Moldovan capital) with one hand slapping the United States and with the other, digging in the pockets of the United States.