U.S. sends $1.7B in aid to pay Ukraine’s health care workers

Ukraine will receive another $1.7 billion in aid from the United States and the World Bank to pay health care workers’ salaries and provide other essential services, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

The latest round of aid — provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Treasury Department and the World Bank — aims to address the acute budget deficit caused by the ongoing Russian invasion, the AP reported. So far, USAID has provided $4 billion in budgetary support to Ukraine.

While some hospitals in Ukraine have been shut down or bombed, many health care workers have opted to remain in the war-torn country. Paying the workers has become increasingly difficult “due to the overwhelming burden of war,” Viktor Liashko, Ukraine’s minister of health, said in a statement.

Liashko underscored the importance of the continuous financial support from the West as the war rages on.

The aid “is not just yet another financial support; it is an investment that makes us a step closer to victory,” he said in the statement.

Previous funds from the U.S. have been earmarked for keeping gas and electricity running in hospitals and schools, securing humanitarian aid for citizens and paying salaries of civil servants and teachers, the AP reported.

“This aid will help Ukraine’s democratic government provide essential services for the people of Ukraine,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

Tens of billions of dollars have been allocated","link":{"target":"NEW","attributes":[],"url":"https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/15/biden-announces-1-billion-weapons-humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine-00039881","_id":"00000181-f31a-defd-afff-f73ff9550000","_type":"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_id":"00000181-f31a-defd-afff-f73ff9550001","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">have been allocated by the U.S. to support Ukraine since the war began in late February. Much of that support has been dedicated to the country’s military, sending weapons and ammunitions to help stave off Russian troops.