The U.S. president appeared to nuance a Western response, making a distinction between “a small incursion” and a full-blown invasion.

The nine-year loan agreement was signed on December 22 and will be used to build new elevators for storing grain and oilseeds.

The World Bank forecasts that economic growth in Europe and Central Asia will slow to 3 percent in 2022, as domestic demand stabilises, and 2.9 percent in 2023, as external demand plateaus and commodity prices soften.

The government expects to privatise the United Mining and Chemical Company (OGHC), the Centrenergo, and the Odesa Port Plant this year.

The talks took place in three European cities and while each side acknowledged that the other had taken care to listen, neither side appeared ready to give any ground on matters of fundamental importance to the other.