There has been a bit of a social-media buzz about how Alyaksandr Lukashenka apparently tried to pull a chair out from under Vladimir Putin, just as he was about to sit down at the Minsk negotiations. It seems, however, that the footage was being played backwards:
This appears to be what really happened:
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)