US Gives Ukraine $3.9 Billion in ‘Direct Budgetary Aid’

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Monday that Ukraine had received $3.9 billion from the US in the form of “direct budgetary aid,” which is disbursed directly to the Ukrainian government through the World Bank.

The aid is meant to fund government services, salaries, pensions, social assistance programs, and other types of spending. It has also been used to subsidize Ukrainian small businesses and farmers.

The US has provided tens of billions of dollars in direct budgetary aid to the Ukrainian government since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. Shmyhal said that the $3.9 billion was the first package of budget assistance Ukraine received this year.

“This is the first tranche of direct budget support from the United States in 2024. In total, Ukraine will receive $7.8 billion in direct budgetary assistance from the United States this year, which will allow us to confidently pass this financial period,” Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.

The funds are being pulled from the $95 billion foreign military aid bill that President Biden signed into law in April. The legislation included $61 billion for the proxy war in Ukraine, including $7.9 billion for budgetary aid.

The $7.9 billion was included as a loan instead of a grant, an idea House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) got from former President Trump. But the bill gives the president the power to forgive the loan, or it could be paid back using frozen Russian assets.