US Treasury's Janet Yellen said on Tuesday that the United States would "be responsible for Ukraine's defeat" if the US Congress fails to approve the Biden administration's latest multi-billion-dollar funding request for the war-torn country.
Yellen told reporters on a trip to Mexico City that the funding - particularly for Ukraine's general government budget support - was "utterly essential" and a pre-condition to keep International Monetary Fund support flowing to Ukraine.
"I've talked to members of Congress, my colleagues have. I think they understand this, that this is a dire situation and we can hold ourselves responsible for Ukraine’s defeat if we don’t manage to get this funding to Ukraine that's needed and I’m including direct budget support here because that’s utterly essential," Yellen said.