World Bank stops all its projects in Russia, Belarus with ‘immediate effect’

The World Bank has stopped all its programs in Russia and Belarus with “immediate effect” following a military operation by Russia against Ukraine.

“The World Bank Group has not approved any new loans to or investments in Russia since 2014. There has also been no new lending approved to Belarus since mid-2020,” the international financial institution said in a statement. 

“The World Bank Group, which is an organization that helps developing countries with their economic woes by providing loans and other financial resources has stopped all its programs in Russia due to the recent conflict between Moscow and Kyiv.” WB said in the statement.

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Meanwhile, World Bank announced it is preparing a 3 billion dollar support package for Ukraine in the coming months. IMF also said it will provide emergency assistance to the country.

Russia started a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. Three days after that, Russia recognized the two breakaway regions in Ukraine – Donetsk and Luhansk. Many countries like US, UK, Germany, France have condemned Russia’s actions in Ukraine and put sanctions on Moscow as a result.

These countries have also said they will help Ukraine with military aid to fight Russia. The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won’t be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia’s borders.

(With ANI Inputs)