The World Bank approved an additional $489 million package of assistance for Ukraine on Monday, dubbed "Financing of Recovery from Economic Emergency in Ukraine," or "FREE Ukraine," to be made available immediately.

On March 1, the Washington-based organization announced that it was preparing $3 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine, with at least $350 million to be released immediately.

On Monday, the board of directors decided to disburse an even larger sum.

In a statement, it said that “the package approved by the Board consists of a supplemental loan for $350 million and guarantees in the amount of $139 million.” 

“The fast-disbursing support will help the government provide critical services to Ukrainian people, including wages for hospital workers, pensions for the elderly, and social programs for the vulnerable,” it said.

According to the bank, it is "also mobilizing grant financing of $134 million and parallel financing of $100 million, for a total mobilized the support of $723 million."

The Netherlands and Sweden will each contribute up to $89 million and $50 million dollars to the package, respectively, according to the World Bank.

The lender also stated that it has established a "multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) to facilitate the channeling of grant resources from donors to Ukraine, with contributions totaling $134 million thus far from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, and Iceland."

It urged members to provide additional grants to supplement funding.

US lethal weapons supplies 

It is worth mentioning that Ukraine has received lethal weapons supplies from the United States from Javelin anti-tank missiles to ammunition.

Last week, the Biden administration has increased the amount of money it is seeking immediately from Congress “in aid for Ukraine” and its Eastern European partners to $10 billion.

The White House had previously requested $6.4 billion in “Ukraine aid”, though appropriators expected the amount to rise as President Biden sends troops and supplies overseas.

Meanwhile, Democrats and Republicans remain at odds over the funding, which could complicate the process of providing “aid” to Ukraine.

The US said that the Ukraine aid would be used to help the country on different fronts most notably on the military front in the face of Russia.

Moreover, European Union members states agreed to allocate more than $500 million for members to buy arms for Ukraine.