The agreements were touted by officials as measures to boost industry and improve living standards and focused on efforts to diversify sources of supply, including the purchase of 130 electric locomotives by rolling stock manufacturer Alsthom to Ukrzaliznytsia – the national rail network - for a total of 900 million euros.

The new operator plans to start supplies to Ukraine in June. The company's quota stands at more than 100,000 tonnes of diesel fuel and 12,000 tonnes of liquefied gas.

The Bank announced the loan backing a $90 million project to streamline and improve Ukraine's health sector response to the pandemic. The project, Ukraine Emergency COVID-19 Response and Vaccination, will provide reimbursement of expenditures to Ukraine’s health service to proceed with about 10 million vaccinations.

A canal dug and brought into service in Soviet times to provide water for irrigation in Crimea – but now blocked and disused – could this be the next flashpoint in the conflict pitting Russia and Ukraine?

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has walked a tightrope now for nearly 27 years. He’s frequently shrugged off the “last dictator in Europe”, an “autocrat” and other damning epithets.