And here is an update from our news desk on the aid package Ukraine has agreed with the IMF:
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says the forthcoming aid packaged announced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on February 12 presupposes "very difficult" reforms to fight corruption, overhaul the energy sector, cut state expenditures, and reduce state bureaucracy.
His statement comes after IMF chief Christine Lagarde announced the IMF and Ukraine had reached a preliminary deal on a financial rescue plan worth $17.5 billion, part of an overall $40 billion funding package for the conflict-torn country in return for "bold policy reforms" by Kyiv.
Lagarde said that it is "an ambitious program; it is a tough program; and it is not without risk."
"But it is also a realistic program and its effective implementation...can represent a turning point for Ukraine," Lagarde said.
The deal still needs to be approved by the IMF's board of directors.
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)
Here is a brief wrap-up item from our news desk on the Minsk deal:
The leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France have signed off on a road map for a Ukrainian peace deal after 16 hours of talks in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin said the agreement calls for a cease-fire to begin on February 15 and for heavy weapons to be withdrawn and a security zone to be established.
The deal was reportedly also signed by the self-proclaimed leaders of the pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Poroshenko said the document does not give any autonomy to the regions held by separatists and also envisages Ukraine reestablishing control over its borders by the end of 2015.
The agreement also calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Ukrainian territory.
Poroshenko said the deal calls for the release of all people held captive by both sides within three weeks and he said an agreement was also made for Ukrainian Air Force pilot Nadia Savchenko to be released from a Russian jail, where she has been held for more than six months.
French President Francois Hollande, who along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel had negotiated with Poroshenko and Putin, thanked the Russian leader for "pressuring" the rebel leaders.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 5,350 people and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes since April.
(AFP, Reuters, Interfax)