US President Joe Biden explains reasons for supporting Ukraine

The US leader said that one of his goals in Ukraine is to prevent his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “from being able to occupy an independent country that borders NATO allies and borders Russia.” “We want to make sure that those democracies are maintained. And Ukraine has an important role to play in making sure that happens,” he said.

Axios reported the same day that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is preparing to present specific proposals to tap proceeds from Russian fixed assets at meetings with EU finance ministers during a visit to Luxembourg this week.

In another related development, Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko admitted that securing financial support is becoming more difficult for Kiev as Western countries shift their focus to domestic issues and geopolitical tensions.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) conference in Marrakech, Mr. Marchenko said that Ukraine now has to “work twice as hard to convince partners to support us compared to previous annual conferences” in the spring.

“I see a lot of fatigue, I see a lot of weakness among our partners, they want to forget the war but the war is still going on, on a full scale,” the minister said, referring to the conflict with Russia.

Among the factors that have diverted Western attention away from Ukraine, the official cited the hostilities between the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Many fear the conflict could spill over into the wider Middle East, disrupting the entire global economy because the region serves as a vital energy supplier and transport hub.

Marchenko also pointed to next year's elections in the US and Europe as another distraction, stressing that "changing geopolitics and internal political situations in different countries" are making allied governments less focused on supporting Ukraine.

Kiev now needs Western financial support to meet much of its $43 billion budget spending requirement by 2024.

“We have some commitments, such as $5.4 billion from the IMF program, and we expect commitments from Japan and the UK, and of course, we rely on our main partners and allies, the US and the European Union (EU),” Marchenko said.

The official added that Ukraine is also seeking to restructure international debt and secure new financing, but did not give a timeframe for when discussions with private creditors might begin.

Earlier this week, Marchenko wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Ukraine had received $1.2 billion in aid from Washington, bringing US assistance to Kiev this year to $10.9 billion.

The EU has promised 18 billion euros ($18.9 billion) in aid to Ukraine this year and Brussels is now working on another 50 billion euro package expected to be allocated between 2024 and 2027.

In addition, Belgium announced earlier this week that it would transfer 1.7 billion euros in tax revenue to Ukraine from Russian assets frozen by the international payments agency Euroclear. The move was discussed in Marrakech and, according to a statement from the G7 central bank governors and finance ministers on Thursday, could be replicated by other Western countries, despite legal concerns.

Marchenko said the decision showed that for Western countries, transferring Russian assets to Ukraine now “sounds like a plan.” Russia strongly opposes the use of its frozen assets to aid Ukraine, arguing that the move is contrary to international law and calling it “theft.”