Soros says Ukraine needs $15 billion in Western aid to survive

American financier George Soros and the French intellectual and writer, Bernard Henri-Levi, expressed the view that to solve the problems in Ukraine this country needs urgent assistance from the West amounting to $15 billion. 

"Ukraine will defend itself militarily, but it urgently needs financial assistance. The immediate need is for $15 billion. But to ensure Ukraine’s survival and encourage private investment, Western powers need to make a political commitment to provide additional sums to Kiev," a New York Times article, written by Soros and Levi and titled "Save the New Ukraine", says. 

According to them, the amount of financial assistance will depend on whether the reforms in Ukraine are successful and on how the situation in the country’s east will develop, RIA Novosti reports.