UN to seek USD 1B in donations for Ukraine relief

The U.N. plans to seek over USD 1 billion in donations for humanitarian relief in Ukraine over the next three months, the world bodys humanitarian chief said.Martin Griffiths said at a news briefing on Friday that the exact amount of the appeal is still being decided but will be well north of USD 1 billion. The U.N. announced on Thursday that it was immediately allocating USD 20 million to expand its humanitarian operations in Ukraine.

The U.N. plans to seek over USD 1 billion in donations for humanitarian relief in Ukraine over the next three months, the world body's humanitarian chief said.

Martin Griffiths said at a news briefing on Friday that the exact amount of the appeal is still being decided but will be ''well north of USD 1 billion.'' The U.N. announced on Thursday that it was immediately allocating USD 20 million to expand its humanitarian operations in Ukraine. Even before Russia's attack this week, the world body estimated about 3 million people were in need of aid after years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government in the country's east.

Now, ''the scale of need in these very, very extraordinary circumstances is going to be of the highest,'' Griffiths said.

The U.N. issues multiple appeals each year for international donors, mainly governments, to finance humanitarian efforts in trouble spots around the world. Last month, it requested more than USD 5 billion for Afghanistan, the largest-ever appeal tied to a single country.