U.S. Congress overwhelmingly supports USD 1 bln in aid to Ukraine

The U.S. House and Senate voted overwhelmingly on March 27 to approve a USD 1 bln aid package for Ukraine. U.S. Senator Robert Menendez said a final, reconciled bill should reach the White House today. U.S. President Barack Obama said he will sign the legislation, which includes new sanctions against Russians and Ukrainians who provided support to Russia in its annexation of Crimea. The bill also formalizes sanctions authorized recently by Obama and expands the list of individuals and entities targeted for sanctions, the New York Times reported on March 27. Future U.S. government measures could involve penalties against the banking and energy sectors, increased military assistance, expanded NATO force in Eastern Europe and providing liquefied natural gas to break Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas.

Zenon Zawada: The U.S. financial aid has more symbolic value when compared to the IMF’s provisional USD 18 bln loan agreement and the EU’s offer of up to USD 15 bln. It’s the sanctions where the U.S. power lies, being the only government to target the entourage of Russian President Vladimir Putin. We expect the U.S. government will take a pause once Obama signs the bill, hoping that the Russians will think twice about a deeper invasion in Ukraine. Given that such an attack was expected as early as last week by the Ukrainian government, the pressure seems to have had some effect, despite Russian posturing to the contrary.