If it wasn’t clear on the campaign trail, it’s crystal clear now: Trump ain’t giving Ukraine a dime any time soon, if ever. As he sides with Russian President Vladimir Putin and calls Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator,” Trump has loudly telegraphed that the spigot of U.S. assistance is closed.
Anticipating that potential cutoff, the Biden administration tried to Trump-proof billions in assistance to Ukraine via a newly created World Bank fund. Former U.S. President Joe Biden put $20 billion in U.S. contributions into the fund as part of a plan among the world’s biggest economies to use the interest from Russia’s frozen assets to provide $50 billion in loans for Ukraine, Jen Kirby writes for Devex.
“Frankly, what we came up with is something that wasn't that novel. It's what lots of rich people in the United States do every day,” a former Biden official said.
After disbursing $16 billion weeks before Trump took over Washington, D.C., about $4 billion in U.S. money remains in the fund, yet to be allocated — a decision that the next Trump administration can influence, but likely cannot fully block. As the senior Biden Treasury official stated: “We wanted to give some certainty that some of the money would be in the hands of the Ukrainians.”