The request came a day after the IMF’s executive board met informally to discuss proposed changes that would grant all member countries, including Ukraine, access to additional emergency funding to deal with budget problems caused by food shocks.

Zelenskiy said in a separate tweet that he spoke with Georgieva and thanked her for “allocating $1.4 billion in additional support. Discussed future cooperation to increase Ukraine’s financial stability.”

It was unclear whether Zelenskiy was referring to the staff proposal discussed by the IMF board on Monday, which, if approved, would give Ukraine access to an additional $1.4 billion in emergency aid on top of the $1.4 billion it received in March.

Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials are urging the IMF to provide far more financial assistance through a full-fledged programme as soon as possible.

Kyrylo Shevchenko, Ukraine’s central bank governor, told Reuters in July that Kyiv was seeking $15-20 billion from the IMF over two or three years, an amount that would put Ukraine well above the fund’s “exceptional access limit” for lending.

However, Oleg Ustenko, Zelenskiy’s senior economic adviser, later told Reuters that even a $5 billion IMF loan spread over 18 months could help facilitate a larger package from other creditors.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, speaking through an interpreter, told a press conference on Sunday that the IMF had been “very passive” in responding to Ukraine’s request so far.

He claimed that the fund loaned Ukraine $17 billion following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, but that it was dragging its feet this time.

“Now we have a certain procrastination, but we have to speed up our cooperation and the response of the IMF, which was created to support countries in dire straits like we find ourselves in,” he said.

He stated that Ukraine was cooperating closely with the US, Germany, and other partners, but that the IMF was an important “uniting factor.”

“It’s very important to have the IMF on board with their leadership and partnership,” he added.

Also Read

US official claims fleeing Russian troops close Kharkiv have left Ukraine

Russia has largely ceded its gains near Kharkiv, and many of the...