The International Monetary Fund said Friday it approved a disbursement of $2.2 billion for Ukraine, bringing total IMF disbursements to Ukraine to about $7.6 billion.
The allotment was approved after the IMF completed a fourth review of Ukraine's extended arrangement with the international financial institution.
In a statement, the IMF said "Ukraine's performance remains strong" despite challenging conditions. "All quantitative performance criteria for end-March were met, and all structural benchmarks through end-June were implemented on time or with a short delay."
Ukraine's economy "continues to be resilient although the outlook remains subject to exceptionally high uncertainty," the IMF statement said.
Prisoners released
Ten Ukrainians — including a politician and two priests — who had been imprisoned in Russia and Belarus, Russia's ally, have been released, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Friday on Telegram.
It was not immediately clear whether Russian prisoners in Ukraine were exchanged in the deal. Some of the newly released prisoners had been detained since 2017. Zelenskyy thanked the Vatican for its efforts in bringing the prisoners home but did not provide any details about the Vatican's role in the release of the prisoners.
European security
Zelenskyy hosted Slovenian president Natasa Pirc Musar in Kyiv to discuss plans for a second peace summit and a bilateral security agreement.
The Slovenian leader's visit Friday came a day after Zelenskyy attended the European Union Summit, where he signed three security agreements, including a long-term agreement with the EU as a whole.
In a statement posted on his X social media account Friday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is seeking to "establish a comprehensive framework for such agreements with all European countries. This will not only strengthen Ukraine but also enhance security across the entire continent."
At a joint news conference, Zelenskyy said he and the Slovenian president also discussed plans for a second peace summit like the one held June 15 and 16 at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland, which drew leaders from 101 countries and organizations.
Zelenskyy said they were preparing groups of countries to work on "peace formula points" discussed at that meeting. Most of the participants at the summit agreed that territorial integrity, the principles of international law, and the U.N. Charter should be the basis for any peace talks to end the Russian war in Ukraine.
Pirc Musar said she supports that formula. She also announced the Slovenian government had approved an additional package of roughly $5 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Friday that it had ordered officials to prepare a "prompt response" to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft.
In the statement, the Defense Ministry said the United States was increasing strategic drone operations over the Black Sea to conduct reconnaissance and targeting of precision weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western nations.
"This indicates the growing involvement of the U.S. and NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kyiv regime. Such flights multiply the probability of incidents in the airspace with the Russian Aerospace Forces' aircraft, which increases the risk of direct confrontation between the alliance and Russia. NATO countries will bear responsibility for this," the statement said.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
