US to call on allies to increase financial pressure on Russia and increase assistance to Ukraine

On Monday, Jay Shambaugh, US Deputy Treasury Secretary, will call on allies to jointly increase economic pressure on Russia in connection with its invasion of Ukraine, and strengthen support for Kyiv.

Source: European Pravda, Shambaugh in a speech at the forthcoming Spring Meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, excerpts from which were obtained by the Reuters agency.

In his speech, the senior US Treasury official will emphasise that the current inflationary pressure cannot be separated from the full-scale war in Ukraine and its economic consequences.

"The United States is redoubling our efforts to rally our global coalition of allies at the Spring Meetings on Treasury’s two lines of effort as part of the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine," Shambaugh said.

That means "shoring up economic support for Ukraine’s government and people, and ... continuing to deny (Russian President Vladimir) Putin the revenue and military equipment he needs to further his illegal war."

Shambaugh said the United States had provided close to $50 billion in assistance – including over $23 billion in budget support – to Ukraine over the past year, and will continue to stand with the war-torn country "for as long as it takes".

"Looking ahead, Ukraine will need support from a broad set of donors as it recovers and rebuilds. As an international community, we can coalesce around meeting the most urgent and concrete needs – high-impact areas that can help Ukraine restart its economy and bring home displaced Ukrainians as conditions permit," he said.

The US Treasury Department is also renewing its focus on tightening sanctions aimed at depriving Putin of "the revenue, technology and inputs he needs to fuel this illegal invasion".

Shambaugh, along with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, visited Kyiv in late February.

Yellen then stated that she supports recovery of compensation for losses caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but warned of "significant legal obstacles" to confiscate Russia's frozen assets.

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