MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. Tokyo and Ottawa provided Kiev with $690 million under the ERA program mechanism, which involves debt repayment using proceeds from frozen Russian assets, Ukraine's Ministry of Finance reported on Monday.

"Ukraine received a grant from Japan and Canada in the amount of $690 million under the G7 ERA mechanism. <...> The funds were received under the G7 ERA mechanism through the World Bank's PEACE in Ukraine program," the ministry's website states.

The ministry clarified that the Japanese side sent $544 million, and the Canadian side sent $146 million. Ukraine's Ministry of Finance recalled that the ministry and the World Bank signed an agreement on providing grant funds under the project "Support for State Spending to Ensure Sustainable Public Administration in Ukraine" (PEACE in Ukraine) on February 6.

Earlier, EU countries decided to ensure support for Ukraine at the level of 90 billion euros in 2026-2027.

Ukraine has been forming its budget with a record deficit for several years. Kiev has repeatedly acknowledged that the country's authorities are only able to cover expenses for Ukraine's military needs, while all other sectors receive funding through foreign aid. At the same time, the majority of funds allocated to Kiev by the West are in the form of loans, not grants. According to former Ukrainian Prime Minister (2010-2014) Nikolai Azarov, without Western lending, Ukraine will cease to exist as a state.