Overview
- After high-level meetings in Washington, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was supportive and she pressed the U.S. not to relax Russia sanctions or allow workarounds.
- Ukraine and U.S. counterparts agreed in principle to expand the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund and to set up a co-investment fund to draw private capital despite wartime risk.
- The reconstruction fund approved its first deal in March and expects a second project in the energy sector this summer, and it has logged more than 200 applications as Kyiv seeks to scale beyond three initial projects.
- Ukraine said it received a first $8.1 billion IMF tranche in March and expects an IMF staff mission in May under a program approved in February, with the Fund signaling flexibility as war damage strains the economy.
- Allied support widened as G7 finance chiefs vowed continued aid for Ukraine’s finances and winter energy needs, and Svyrydenko said elections in Hungary could clear an EU €90 billion loan and a new sanctions package.