Here are some more details on the IMF-Ukraine funding deal that has just been announced (from RFE/RL's news desk):
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Ukraine have reached a preliminary deal on a new financial rescue plan worth $17.5 billion, part of an overall $40 billion funding package for the conflict-torn country.
IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on February 12 that the IMF team working in Kyiv had reached agreement with the Ukraine government on the four-year package.
She added that the deal still needs to be approved by the IMF's board of directors.
Lagarde said Ukraine would receive additional funding from other sources, with the overall package worth around $40 billion in return for "bold policy reforms."
She added that it is "an ambitious program; it is a tough program; and it is not without risk."
Kyiv is under pressure by the West to fight corruption and overhaul its finances, even as it battles pro-Russian separatist rebels in the east of the country.
(Reuters, AFP, dpa)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin says the four leaders at the Minsk peace talks have agreed on a deal.
He said a cease-fire would begin on February 15 and that heavy weapons would be withdrawn from the conflict zone.
(Reuters/AFP)
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French President Francois Hollande said after the conclusion of peace talks in Minsk that the four leaders had come to a global political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
He said they are a "relief for Europe" and "hope for Ukraine."
(Reuters/AFP)
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said the withdrawal of heavy military equipment from Ukraine's conflict zone is set to begin two days after the cease-fire begins.
Poroshenko also said there has been an agreement for the release of Ukrainian Air Force pilot Nadia Savchenko.
(Reuters/AFP)