President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde.
“We are grateful that you decided to come to Ukraine even after the attacks on our civilian infrastructure and our people. We deeply value such gestures. The most important things are the people and the morale of our society. That’s why we are truly thankful that during the war we have friends who can support our people,” he said.
The key focus of the meeting was budgetary support for Ukraine. President Zelenskyy emphasized that despite the war, the state not only meets the needs of the defense sector, but also pays salaries, pensions, and social benefits.
“That is why support from institutions like the European Central Bank is so vital. And we need to work on closing the gaps in our budget caused by the war,” the Head of State noted.
The President expressed his gratitude for the $50 billion loan provided this year under the G7’s Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) initiative.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Christine Lagarde also discussed the use of frozen Russian assets to meet Ukraine’s needs. Additionally, they addressed the search for mechanisms to extend sanctions on those assets.
Christine Lagarde reaffirmed the European Central Bank’s continued financial support and commended the work of the National Bank of Ukraine.