Treasury Secretary Yellen: ‘Our Support for Ukraine Will Be Lasting and Is Unconditional’

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that U.S. support for Ukraine “will be lasting and is unconditional.”

Co-host Joe Scarborough asked, “Secretary Yellen, what can we do? What can the allied governments do to help the Ukrainians right now over the next year? Do we begin – is it too early to talk about reconstruction projects? At least the western half of the country. What’s our best move now?

Yellen said, “Let me make clear, the United States and the allies, our support for Ukraine will be lasting and is unconditional. We stand with Ukraine and want to support Ukraine.”

She continued, “Of course, there’s the immediate need for military equipment, and we’ve responded positively to many of the requests that Ukraine has made for advanced military equipment that should give them an edge. In addition to that, they need ongoing economic support. The war has been devastating for their economy. Their economy contracted by almost a third last year. They’ve diverted spending away from social programs and support to increase defense spending, and they have a serious budget deficit. The United States has been providing economic support to Ukraine. We’ve already provided $13 billion in support, and there is an additional $10 billion that we expect to provide over the next nine months.”

Yellen added, “In addition, the allies, the European Union, has provided substantial support to G7 countries. So we stand behind Ukraine economically.”

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