U.S. grows frustrated over Europe’s delayed economic aid to Ukraine

Yellen also raised the issue at a private meeting this week at the International Monetary Fund with European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and European Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private meetings. She raised the issue again at a subsequent meeting of all E.U. finance ministers, the person said.

In the Ukraine war, a battle for the nation’s mineral and energy wealth

New projections from the World Bank last week suggest that Ukraine’s economy will contract by 35 percent this year, and the country’s financial officials say inflation could hit 40 percent early next year — close to economists’ definition of “hyperinflation.” Even as the situation on the battlefield has turned in Ukraine’s favor, the nation’s exports have plummeted, tax revenue has crumbled, millions of people have fled and Russian attacks have pulverized critical infrastructure, including the electrical grid.

International assistance has not proved enough to make up the gap. Zelensky on Wednesday said Ukraine needs as much as $38 billion in emergency economic help from the West for next year’s budget alone. That figure excludes the additional $350 billion the World Bank has estimated will be necessary for Ukraine’s long-term reconstruction once the war ends. The United States has disbursed $8.5 billion in economic aid and will disburse another $4.5 billion by the end of the year, while U.S. officials say the European Union has pledged 11 billion euros but only disbursed about 3 billion in loans.

“We are calling on our partners and allies to join us by swiftly disbursing their existing commitments to Ukraine and by stepping up in doing more — both to help Ukraine continue its essential government services and to help Ukraine begin to build and recover,” Yellen said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Yellen again stressed the need for rapid disbursement of direct cash payments — rather than loans that have to be repaid — to assist the country’s economy. Yellen’s comments were a thinly veiled reference to the E.U., which has almost entirely given its aid in loans.

“Donors need to keep stepping up,” Yellen said. “The scale, predictability and grant component of disbursements must improve.”

Both Ukrainian and U.S. officials are careful not to antagonize their European allies with harsh public condemnations but have still conveyed their sense that the commission is moving too…