The Ukrainian finance minister said Ukraine has received $16.7 billion in financial aid from its allies so far this year. The total was announced during a meeting of the G7 finance ministers, which included Ukraine in its conference this year.
Ukrainian finance minister Serhiy Marchenko said on Thursday during a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers of the G7 countries, including senior officials of international lenders. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted Ukraine’s economy and forced Kyiv to resort to seeking foreign assistance.
“In 2023, Ukraine has already received $16.7 billion in budget aid from foreign donors. We also have assurances from partners regarding further support in financing the state budget deficit of 2022,” said Marchenko during the meeting, according to the Ukrainian finance ministry. Marchenko also thanked those who have taken part in “unprecedented efforts” to put together the financing.
Ukraine is facing a $38 billion budget deficit, and the Ukrainian government is asking for an additional $14 billion for the immediate reconstruction of critical infrastructure and the energy sector in the country as Russia continues to bombard it with missiles and drones. Kyiv has already received $32.14 billion in foreign assistance for budget needs.
Meanwhile, United States senators have grilled defense chief Lloyd Austin for what they described as a failure to cooperate with the International Criminal Court in its probe of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. During the senate committee hearing, Democratic lawmaker Dick Durbin said he was informed by the ICC’s chief prosecutor that the defense department was refusing to cooperate with the case, which was launched shortly after the invasion.
In March this year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin which Moscow has largely dismissed.
Durbin said the ICC’s top prosecutor Karim Khan told him that compared to the Pentagon, the State Department and the Justice Department were cooperating with the court. When Durbin pressed why, Austin said the Pentagon “firmly supports the goal of holding Russia accountable for its violations in Ukraine” but that he prioritized protecting US military personnel in “anything that we do.”
Photo by Kyivcity.gov.ua/Wikimedia Commons(CC by 2.0)