USA confirms $10 bln allocation to Ukraine in coming months, urges IMF for program with Kyiv – Secretary Yellen

KYIV. Feb 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The United States has provided more than $46 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion and will continue to provide economic assistance that makes resistance to Ukraine possible by supporting the home front: funding critical public services and helping the government work, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said.

“In the coming months, we expect to provide around $10 billion in additional economic support for Ukraine,” she confirmed at a press conference on Thursday in Bangalore (India) the earlier commitments of the United States.

The minister recalled the words of U.S. President Joe Biden about supporting Ukraine in its struggle for as long as necessary and thanked the allies for stepping up their direct assistance.

“And we believe it’s critical that the IMF move swiftly toward a fully financed program for Ukraine – as they have said they will do,” Yellen said.

“We very much want to see the IMF negotiate an agreement to lend to Ukraine. The managing director has been clear that’s a goal that she has to negotiate a full program by the end of March,” the Secretary said.

She stressed that the constant and reliable support of Ukraine would be the main topic of discussion during her visit to India, where she arrived at the meeting of the G20 finance ministers.

Yellen recalled that since the early days of the war, the United States had been working with a multilateral coalition of more than 30 countries to impose serious economic costs on Russia for its brutal attack.

“Our twin goals are to degrade Russia’s military-industrial complex and reduce the revenues that it can use to fund its war,” she noted, pointing out that Russia’s economy had become increasingly isolated, with almost a million Russians leaving the country last year.

Answering questions, the head of the U.S. Treasury said that the joint communiqué of the G20 finance ministers is still being discussed. “Certainly, we would like to see a strong condemnation of the impact the war has had on Ukraine and on the global economic outlook. It’s one of the most significant factors that is reducing growth in causing very negative spillovers, especially for low-income countries,” Yellen said.