Author: Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has sent $3.4 billion in additional budget aid to Ukraine, providing the war-torn country with critical resources amid intensifying Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday.
Yellen said in a statement that the direct budget assistance provided in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department marked the final disbursement under Ukraine's 2024 Security Supplement Act.
A U.S. official said the funding brings total U.S. budget aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022 to just over $30 billion. Most of these funds are used to keep the Ukrainian government running by paying the salaries of teachers and other civil servants.
Earlier on Monday, US President Joe Biden announced additional $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, separate from direct budget aid.
Almost three years after the war, Washington allocated a total of $175 billion in aid to Ukraine.
President Joe Biden's administration has been scrambling to support Ukraine before new Republican President Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20, given his public questioning of military aid and his promise to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.
Trump wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to come to an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine. Some of his fellow Republicans, who will control both houses of the US Congress starting next month, have also cooled on sending more aid to Kiev.
Yellen said continued economic aid to Ukraine was crucial for it to maintain government services and continue to defend its sovereignty, and warned against moves to cut funding.
“Ukraine's success is in America's core national interest,” she said, vowing to continue to pressure Moscow with sanctions and help Ukraine achieve a just peace.
“We must not back down in this effort,” she said.
She emphasized that US budget aid to Ukraine was and remains conditional on reforms aimed at strengthening law enforcement, improving the transparency and efficiency of government institutions, and strengthening anti-corruption efforts.
The latest funding was supplemented by $20 billion of the U.S. portion of the Group of Seven's $50 billion loan to Ukraine, which the Treasury Department transferred to the World Bank's Interim Fund for Ukraine earlier this month. These funds are covered by profits obtained from frozen Russian state assets.
Biden said Wednesday that he had asked the Defense Department to continue an increase in arms shipments to Ukraine after condemning Russia's Christmas Day attack on Ukraine's energy system and some of its cities.
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The US is paying $3.4 billion in budget aid to Ukraine, Yellen says, according to Reuters
