The US insists on putting Kiev on a monthly payroll and expects the Europeans to do the same, sources say
FILE PHOTO. © Thierry Monasse/Getty Images
The US wants to support Kiev with a $1.5 billion allowance every month throughout its conflict with Russia while urging EU countries to follow suit, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
According to unnamed officials, the Biden administration “has pressed Europe to do more” in its efforts to back Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
One Bloomberg source said that the US and its allies, which have supplied Kiev with many standalone aid packages, have been mulling a more regular mechanism that would prevent Ukraine’s battered economy from collapsing.
According to another source, EU officials were warned that the US Congress would be increasingly speaking in favor of “more burden sharing” among allies. Another official noted that the US expects the EU to provide Ukraine with funding roughly equal to the monthly $1.5 billion Washington is ready to put on the table.
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The funds are said to be critical for covering Kiev’s essential needs, such as basic public expenditures, as well as schools, hospitals and the electrical grid.
In late April, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said that Ukraine needs $5 billion every month to keep its economy running. Meanwhile, the same month Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky named an even larger figure – $7 billion per month – adding that “hundreds of billions of dollars” would be required for the country’s reconstruction.
On Thursday, the US Senate approved another massive Ukraine aid package, which included $12 billion in additional economic and military aid, thus bringing the total amount of US assistance to Ukraine to about $54 billion since late February, when Russia launched its military operations.
Meanwhile, the EU has paid out to Ukraine only €1 billion ($980 million) of the €9 billion it promised in May. In mid-September, Brussels also approved the release of another €5 billion, but these funds have not been disbursed yet.
