In visit to Kyiv, Yellen promises aid

The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has paid a surprise visit to Kyiv to reaffirm support for Ukraine, and has committed to providing more than $10 billion in budget support by September.

Yellen met President Volodymyr Zelensky, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and other key government officials on Monday, and reiterated assurances President Joe Biden delivered in Kyiv on Feb 20.

"America will stand with Ukraine as long as it takes," Yellen, flanked by sandbags at the cabinet ministers' office, told Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in a trip also aimed at shoring up support in the US for continued aid.