U.S. State Dep’t confirms intentions to write off Ukraine’s $4.6B debt

The U.S. Department of State has confirmed Joe Biden’s Administration made a first step toward canceling Ukraine’s debt to the U.S. worth $4.6 billion that the nation was supposed to repay for the loans provided, but Congress is yet to take the appropriate decision.

That’s according to the department’s spokesman Matt Miller, who spoke at a briefing on Wednesday, November 20, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“If you recall when Congress passed the Supplemental Appropriations bill back in April, I think, forgetting exactly when it contained a provision for us to elect that allowed us to provide a certain amount of economic assistance to Ukraine and some of that economic assistance was provided in the form of loans, and we had the option under the bill to cancel those loans at our discretion,” Miller explained.

He added that the Department of State has informed Congress of such an intention.

At the same time, Congress has the option to pass a resolution of disapproval to overturn debt cancellation.

“So we have taken the step that was outlined in the law to cancel those loans, provide that economic assistance to Ukraine, and now Congress is welcome to take it up if they wish,” said Miller.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, on Wednesday, the U.S. announced a new security assistance package for Ukraine in the amount of $275 million.