Ukraine asks US for $2B per month

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Ukrainian finance minister Sergey Marchenko has asked the United States for at least $2 billion per month in "emergency economic aid". The official also revealed that Kiev hoped to raise an additional $3 billion from other sources, making for a total of $5 billion per month for Ukraine.

Ukraine needs to "cover this gap right now to attract the necessary finance and win this war," Marchenko told the Washington Post on Tuesday.

During a visit to Washington last week, Marchenko met several senior US officials, warning them that Ukraine would "likely" fail to cope with the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the country if it does not receive the requested aid from its allies in the West.

A total of $5 billion per month is needed to cover the country's immediate needs in April, May, and June, he argued. Additionally, Kiev is expected to request another tranche of aid to help Ukraine out of the damage it incurred throughout the ongoing war.

The minister had also reportedly attended a private dinner hosted by Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, which was also attended by representatives from prominent US firms such as Goldman Sachs and the Business Roundtable lobbyist association. He also met with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during the G20 summit in Washington last week.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States had already given Kiev some $1 billion in economic aid, in addition to an additional $500 million cleared last week, not to mention the military aid the United States gave to Kiev since Biden took office.

The latest military aid package worth some $800 million made for a total of $2.4 billion in military aid the past month alone, and a total of $3.2 billion since Biden took office, according to figures provided by the White House.

In mid-March, Biden signed legislation - the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2022 - funding the US federal government and also providing aid to Ukraine amid the crisis. The legislation will fund the federal government through September 30, 2022, and will provide $13.6 billion in humanitarian, economic, and defense aid to Ukraine. 

Since the start of the war, the United States has deployed more than 100,000 of its troops to NATO member states, and the European Union also chipped in, sending $500 million worth of arms and equipment to Kiev.

The United Kingdom, before the US, was the latest Western country that announced sending more arms to Ukraine, namely Starstreak missiles, in a package worth some £150 million ($195 million). 

Yellen told reporters last Thursday that the US had to "find ways to meet Ukraine's needs." She added that this "will involve going back to Congress with a supplemental request." Her comments came shortly after President Joe Biden made it clear that he would ask Congress to give the green light for more financial assistance for Ukraine.

The US is still sending arms to Ukraine despite the Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, warning that the influx of Western arms to the conflict zone in Ukraine was adding fuel to the fire.

Despite all the aid given to Kiev, several members of Congress and senior Ukrainian officials have repeatedly suggested giving Ukraine the frozen assets belonging to Russia's central bank.

Kiev's finance minister also argued that the authorities needed the money to provide care to internally displaced Ukrainians and to pay pensions to retirees and salaries to medical and education professionals.