A US official says an “unacceptably high” number of US weapons components have landed in Russian hands.

• U.S. companies need to be vigilant about their exports, says Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh.

• Singh said an “unacceptably high” number of U.S. components had been found in Russian weapons.

• Businesses should not become “unwitting cogs in Russia’s autocratic arsenal,” Singh said Tuesday.

An “unacceptably high” number of U.S. weapons components are landing in Russian hands, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

“The percentage of Russian battlefield weapons featuring U.S. or allied branded components is alarming and unacceptable,” said Daleep Singh, U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics.

Singh was speaking at an event hosted by Washington think tank Brookings Institution on May 28 when he urged U.S. tech companies to be more vigilant with their exports, according to Bloomberg.

“I want to make an urgent appeal for corporate responsibility,” Singh said.

“Use your creativity and resources, know your customers, know their customers and know the end users,” he added. “Make sure American companies are not unwitting cogs in Russia’s autocratic arsenal.”

The 48-year-old Harvard and MIT graduate is widely considered the architect of the economic sanctions the Biden administration imposed on Russia during its first invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Singh left the White House for the private sector in February 2022 and was named chief global economist of PGIM Fixed Income in June 2022. He joined the Biden administration in February this year.

Singh’s remarks Tuesday highlighted the difficulties the United States faces in limiting the flow of its goods to Russia.

According to an investigation by Nikkei Asia last year, Russia still managed to acquire hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of U.S.-made chips, despite existing sanctions. The outlet said most of the goods were going to Russia via Hong Kong and China.

“It took decades to build the financial sanctions architecture after 9/11. We need to do it at lightning speed for tech and goods companies,” Singh said Tuesday.

State Department officials did not immediately respond to a BI request for comment sent outside of normal business hours.

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