Serhiy Marchenko, the Finance Minister of Ukraine, has said that the country will need American taxpayers to hand over $2 billion a month to cover their expenditures.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Marchenko, who serves under President Zelensky, said that Ukraine was looking at acquiring an aid package of around $5 billion per month, with $2 billion of that package being acquired from American taxpayers, in order to cover their needs for April, May, and June.
“We need to cover this gap right now to attract the necessary finance and win this war,” Marchenko said.
The Ukrainian Finance Minister has been spending time in Washington DC, attending private dinners with top officials such as Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, and representatives from Goldman Sachs and other institutions.
The demand for billions come after President Zelensky made a similar call for further billions in funding when speaking to the World Bank last week.
The Biden administration has already sent well over $1 billion to the war-torn European country, with a White House official telling the Washington Post that it was a “top priority” for them to “secure funds to keep the aid flowing to the Ukrainian people.”
Another $500 million is set to be made available to Ukraine from a package approved by Congress in March.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen revealed to reporters last week that the Biden administration wants to send even more money to Ukraine, but did not specify the amounts.
“We’ve got to find ways to meet Ukraine’s needs. And on our part, it will involve going back to Congress with a supplemental request,” Yellen said.
One potential method of funding that has been advocated by some is to take Russia’s frozen central bank reserves currently held by the administration, and send them to Ukraine instead.
Yellen argued that doing so would require new legislation, and shouldn’t be done “lightly,” but that it was an avenue that should be pursued.
Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year amid a years long standoff over the disputed Donbass region. Moscow claims it launched a “special military operation” to prevent Ukrainian state violence against ethnic Russians, while Kiev maintains the invasion was unprovoked.
Authored by Jack Hadfield via Valiant News
ThinkCivics researches, examines, and reports on issues that matter most. We deliver explanative, fearless, and insightful analysis for public consumption.
