Andrea Shalal, David Lawder

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States will provide additional $500 million to Ukraine in order to support its critical government operations. This doubles the pledge of $500 million by President Joe Biden in March.

Yellen stated at a press conference that the aid plans were discussed during a meeting she had with Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine’s Prime Minister on Thursday.

Yellen declared that Ukraine has urgent humanitarian needs and plans to provide direct aid as soon as possible. We know that this is just the beginning of the rebuilding work needed by Ukraine, so I am committed to working closely with Congress and international partners in order to continue to support this assistance over the medium and longer term.

This new assistance will allow Ukraine to pay its government salaries and pensions, as well as fund the social programs that are necessary for avoiding a worsening humanitarian crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion in its southwest neighbor.

Yellen indicated that the $1 billion in Direct Aid will need the Biden administration making a Supplemental Budget Request to Congress. She was also committed to asking Congress for more help for Ukraine.

She said, “We need to find ways that we can meet the needs of Ukraine.”

Shmyhal will be in Washington to participate at the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting and meet with Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary and Nancy Pelosi.

He will address an event organized by the World Bank on Ukraine’s financial needs later.

Kristalina Georgieva (Managing Director IMF) stated that Ukraine’s estimates of needing $5 billion each month in assistance to sustain its economy are accurate. She said the priority for the immediate was to fill that gap within the next three months.

Last week, half of Ukraine’s business were shut down by the World Bank. The rest operate at a low level and Ukraine’s GDP will plummet by 45% this year as Russia invades.

After the G7 finance ministers announced on Wednesday that they have pledged and provided additional support for Ukraine in excess of $24 billion, the Treasury official made this statement. They also promised to continue to provide more assistance as necessary.

According to a Treasury official, international aid to Ukraine was more than $60 billion between the time Russia took Crimea and Ukraine in 2014 and 2021.