The Russia-Ukraine War: Latest News and Live Updates
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke Tuesday with Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko and pledged her support to the country as it fights a Russian attack, the department said in a statement.
She spoke with Mr. Marchenko along with other finance ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies. Over the past few days the U.S., the European Union, the U.K. and other countries have targeted Russian financial institutions, its central bank and business elite with sanctions designed to isolate it from the global financial system.
Ms. Yellen said those sanctions would prevent Russia from raising money to fund the war and would hurt its economy.
“We expect these efforts to have a debilitating impact on Russia’s economy and hamstring the Russian government’s ability to fund its invasion,” she said. Ms. Yellen also said the U.S. would work to raise international support for Ukraine’s economy.
In a separate statement, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said they were coordinating with Ukrainian authorities to provide financing. The IMF is working on an agreement to provide $2.2 billion between now and the end of June, while the World Bank is planning a $3 billion aid package, of which the first $350 million will be submitted to the institution’s board for approval this week.
The two institutions also said they would be ready to offer help to countries neighboring Ukraine as they deal with an influx of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.