The international financial institution unveiled the plan on Tuesday night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
A statement by the World Bank said: “The World Bank will provide additional financing of USD 500 million through an IBRD [International Bank for Reconstruction and Development] loan that is supported by a guarantee from the United Kingdom for the same amount and mobilized under the Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) Project.”
It added: “The World Bank will also support Ukraine with a new project to restore and improve access to health care and address new and urgent needs for health services due to the war.”
The World Bank later specified in a tweet that the new financial package would also be earmarked for “child and family benefits, teacher salaries, and utility payments for government agencies.”
The World Bank Group President David Malpass noted that “The World Bank has mobilized USD 18 billion in emergency financing in support of the people of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, including commitments and pledges from donors, of which USD 15 billion has been disbursed.”
‘Extremely important week for Ukraine’: Zelensky
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that “This week is extremely important for Ukraine,” according to the PAP news agency.
In a video address to the nation on Tuesday night, Zelensky said the current week was crucial as Ukraine must secure assistance “in order to get through this winter and next year.”
“In order to gain the necessary support and for the Ukrainian flag to finally prevail on all sections of our border - the border of Ukraine,” he stressed.
It came amid reports that Ukraine's president planned to visit Washington on Wednesday to address the US Congress, The Economist magazine wrote.
It would mark the first time Zelensky left Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February, news outlets noted.
Earlier on Tuesday, Zelensky made a surprise frontline visit to Ukrainian troops in the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut.
Ukraine named The Economist’s 2022 country of the year
The Economist on Tuesday named Ukraine its country of the year for 2022, “for the heroism of its people and for standing up to a bully.”
The UK weekly newspaper wrote: “In normal times, picking The Economist’s country of the year is hard…. But this year, for the first time since we started naming countries of the year in 2013, the choice is obvious. It can only be Ukraine.”
The Economist picked out four qualities that the Ukrainian people had especially displayed as they stood up to the Russian invasion.
These qualities are heroism, ingenuity, resilience and “not answering war crimes with war crimes,” according to the magazine.
US experts urge West to target Russia’s capability to attack Ukraine
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, has urged the United States to “target Russia’s capability, not its intent” regarding the invasion of Ukraine.
In a policy paper published on Tuesday night, the ISW said: “Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intent toward Ukraine has not changed and likely never will. Putin’s intent will most likely outlast him—by design. Russia will use any territory it keeps in Ukraine to stage future attacks.”
The Washington-based think tank wrote: “US policy should recognize that the Kremlin’s intent regarding Ukraine is maximalist, inflexible, and will not change in the foreseeable future. The West should stop expending resources trying to change a reality it does not control and focus on what it can shape plenty: denying Russia’s ability to wage a war against Ukraine.”
According to the ISW, “Negotiations, ceasefires, and peace deals are not off-ramps but rather on-ramps for the Kremlin to renew its attack on Ukraine in the future under conditions that advantage Russia.”
“They are means to the same ends—full control of Ukraine and eradication of Ukraine’s statehood and identity,” it added.
Eliminating Russia’s ‘ability to attack in the future’
The American experts argued that “The vital US interest in preventing future Russian attacks on Ukraine can be best achieved by denying Russia the capability to carry out those attacks.”
They noted: “The immediate requirement is preserving Ukraine’s momentum on the battlefield—accounting for a possible renewed offensive from Russia this winter—to ensure that Ukraine secures the most advantageous position possible.”
In addition, “The West should also eliminate Russia’s ability to attack Ukraine in the future,” the US think tank stressed.
According to the ISW, this last objective can be achieved, among other measures, “by denying Russia a military foothold in Ukraine from which to launch attacks, resisting ‘peace’ deals that the Kremlin will use to buy time to reconstitute its forces, not empowering the Russian defense industrial complex with access to Western markets, and committing to building Ukraine's defensive capabilities over the long term.”
Wednesday is day 301 of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Source: PAP, worldbank.org, president.gov.ua, economist.com, understandingwar.org