European Union to offer $15B in aid to Ukraine

A top European Union official said Wednesday that the group is prepared to offer an aid package to Ukraine worth as much as $15 billion during the next two years, according to the New York Times.

José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, the union’s executive arm, said the deal would include 1.6 billion euros in loans, 1.4 billion euros in grants and 3 billion in fresh credit from the European Investment Bank.

The funding would add to the $1 billion in loan guarantees offered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a visit to Kiev on Tuesday.

The economic lifeline is expected to help Ukraine’s embattled interim government amid spiraling debts and the threat of rising Russian gas prices. The funds also would help cushion the blow as the International Monetary Fund is expected to demand tough austerity measures as a condition of its own expected aid package.

Read more from the New York Times.[[In-content Ad]]