The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday it had reached an agreement with Ukraine for a four-year financing package worth about $15.6 billion (€14.48 billion), offering funds the country needs as it continues to defend against Russia’s invasion.

The agreement, which must still be ratified by the IMF’s board, takes into consideration Ukraine’s path to accession to the European Union after the war.

The fund said its executive board was expected to discuss approval in the coming weeks.

If approved, as expected, the Ukraine programme would be the IMF’s biggest loan to a country involved in an active conflict. The fund last week changed a rule to allow new loan programmes for countries facing “exceptionally high uncertainty”, without naming Ukraine.

Now is not the time for backsliding on support for Ukraine

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Kremlin welcomes China’s ‘peace plan’ on Ukraine and warns Britain over arms supplies

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Xi-Putin talks highlight Russia’s dependence on China

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US condemns Xi Jinping visit to Moscow days after ICC arrest warrant for Putin

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Elsewhere, White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby said the US does not see China as capable of being an impartial mediator between Moscow and Kyiv over the war in Ukraine, in the most direct criticism yet of China’s aim to be a middleman in efforts to end the war.

“I don’t think you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way,” he said.

China’s president, Xi Jinping, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin have met for a second day of talks at the Kremlin.

The Chinese and Russian leaders signed a series of documents on a “strategic co-operation” after what Mr Putin described as “successful and constructive” talks which showed that China-Russian relations were at the “highest point” in “the whole history of our two countries”.

The Chinese president’s trip to Moscow has been viewed as a major boost for his strategic partner, Mr Putin.

Mr Xi said China had an “impartial position” on the conflict in Ukraine and that it supported peace and dialogue, Russian state media reported.

In Kyiv, Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, met Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Mr Kishida also toured the town of Bucha, where civilians were killed by Russian forces. – Guardian