US to send second installment of budget aid worth $2.5 billion to Ukraine

To help Ukraine face Russian aggression, the United States has planned to grant another $2.5 billion aid package, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Tuesday. Notably, the upcoming monetary assistance is part of a US pledge of $9.9 billion to help the Ukrainian economy this year.

The said monetary aid is separate from military assistance. The Ukrainian PM said that the monetary support would come through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

Why is America sending another $2.5 billion aid package to Ukraine? 

The assistance would be used "to pay salaries to our rescuers, teachers, and doctors, and to help pensioners, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, and low-income families," said Shmyhal.

Meanwhile, there is a new aid package worth $15.6 billion that has been promised by the IMF to Ukraine. "We received financial assistance from Great Britain, the World Bank, Germany, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, Belgium, Iceland, and Estonia. Norway has extended the programme of payments for 50,000 Ukrainians who are facing difficult living conditions and have suffered from Russian aggression," Shmyhal said. The recent grant promised to war-torn Ukraine is the second installment. Last year, America provided $13 billion in budget support.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced on Tuesday that his country has received the UK's main battle Challenger tanks and other armoured vehicles made by Western manufacturers, per a CNN report. Taking to Facebook, Reznikov said, "Today, I had the honour to test the newest addition to our armoured units together with the commander of the Airborne Forces, Major General Maksym ‘Mike’ Myrhorodskyi, and our paratroopers."

Image: AP