The United States has said it plans to provide Ukraine with $1 billion in loan guarantees and has warned Russia against military action in the former Soviet state as tensions simmer in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea.
The promise of support from Washington comes as newly installed leaders in Ukraine face the prospect of keeping a teetering economy on track and ensuring security amid challenges to their authority from opponents in the south and east of country.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that his country's support would come on top of an expected $1.5 billion worth of credits from the European Union and further loans from international financial organizations.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton gave no details of the financial assistance, but said Brussels would work with the International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, the daily newspaper Kommersant reported Thursday that the Economy Development Ministry in Moscow has reached out to Russian businessmen to invest more than $5 billion in the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea, which is mainly occupied by ethnic Russians.
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