The International Monetary Fund's managing director said Ukraine requires an estimated $3 billion to $4 billion in monthly aid in order for the state not to collapse.
Kristalina Georgieva made the comments Wednesday during the IMF and World Bank's annual meeting in Washington, D.C., where she outlined that most of the money would go toward sustaining Ukraine's social services, infrastructure, and energy costs.
Georgieva revealed that the IMF's preliminary estimate indicates the lofty amount could realistically keep Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government from completely imploding.
Zelenskyy appealed to attendees at the event himself, videoing in from Ukraine to advocate for an additional $55 billion to cover the country's 2023 budget deficit. So far, the two banks have already provided Ukraine with around $35 billion in funding.
"You all can see that Ukraine is strong enough to stand through in this war. But we need to remain consistent in supporting our country and develop existing lines of help. Every specific step in helping Ukraine is a real reduction in Russian aggression," the Ukrainian leader said.
"We need to intensify our collaboration for assistance ... to rebuild what was destroyed and to guarantee the financial stability of our state," he added before listing off several statistics demonstrating the grave economic conditions of Ukraine.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also delivered remarks at the conference advocating for other countries and non-governmental organization donors "to keep stepping up," pointing to her nation's own $13.5 billion pledged to Ukraine.
"The United States recently reaffirmed our commitment to Ukraine through congressional approval of another $4.5 billion in grant assistance, which we will begin to disburse in the coming weeks. This is in addition to the $8.5 billion in grants already disbursed, making the United States the largest provider of economic assistance to Ukraine," Yellen explained.
The news comes as Ukraine seeks to capitalize on its recent counteroffensive victories in the country's southern and northeastern Russian-occupied regions. As recently as Oct. 1, Ukrainian forces successfully recaptured the critical city of Lyman from Moscow.
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