US to provide $500 million more in financial aid to Ukraine

The United States will provide an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Ukraine to help it sustain salaries, pensions and other government programs, a Treasury official said, while the beleaguered country fends off Russia’s invasion.

The official was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the announcement on Thursday, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, along with Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko.

The new funding comes on top of $500 million in economic aid that President Joe Biden unveiled in March.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings dominated by conversations over how to manage the spillover from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Treasury Department imposed a new wave of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday. Included in the sanctions packages are penalties imposed on more than 40 people and entities accused of evading sanctions. The sanctions include the first set of penalties against a cryptocurrency mining firm in relation to the war.

Additionally, Yellen and Ukraine’s finance minister walked out of a Group of 20 meeting Wednesday as Russia’s representative started talking.

Several finance ministers and central bank governors also left the room, according an official familiar with the meetings, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the event was not public.

Some ministers and central bank governors who attended the meeting virtually turned their cameras off when Russian President Vladimir Putin’s representative spoke, the person said.

Yellen planned to hold a press conference Thursday afternoon at the Treasury Department.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings occur every year, where world leaders and finance convene to tackle the world’s most pressing issues.