Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen Ahead of Bilateral Meeting with European Union Executive Vice Presidents Margrethe Vestager and Valdis Dombrovskis

As Prepared for Delivery

Executive Vice Presidents Vestager and Dombrovskis, thank you for joining me here at Treasury to discuss areas of mutual interest.

I expect our conversation to cover several topics, but our work to deprive Russia of its ability to wage war and our support for Ukraine are of primary importance.   

Europe has been a key partner in the effort to impose increasing costs on Russia through putting in place multiple sanctions packages, implementing a novel oil price cap, and cracking down on sanctions evasion.

In Ukraine, our financial support is inextricably linked to success on the battlefield. It helps underpin Ukraine’s war effort.  Simply put, we cannot allow Ukraine to run out of money before it runs out of ammunition.

A broad coalition has stepped up, and we thank the European Union for being a strong partner.  

Together, the United States, European Commission, and EU member states have provided over $54 billion in direct budget support to Ukraine since 2022, with more than half coming from the European Commission and member states.  

We must continue to enable Ukraine’s self-defense in multiple ways, including economically.  

For our part, the Biden-Harris Administration stands firmly committed to its request for an additional $11.8 billion in budget support from Congress for Ukraine.  

Congress must act quickly to provide support to Ukraine, including through direct budget assistance.  Failure to act would hand a victory to President Putin and have unthinkable consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for our collective security.

As President Zelensky has said, our support is not charity—it is investment in the national security of the United States, in the security of Europe, and in the rules-based international system that benefits all of us.

Let me also be clear: U.S. direct budget support to Ukraine benefits from an unprecedented level of robust oversight and transparency—an issue of great importance to Congress and the Administration—and additional support would be conditioned on Ukraine making essential reforms.

We will continue to urge Congress to act, and we are proud to stand alongside our European partners in this vital work.

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