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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday expressed doubt over Russia's declaration that its partial mobilisation was complete, saying the poor performance of pro-Moscow forces meant more men could be needed.

"Very soon Russia may need a new wave of people to send to the war," he said in a video address. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier said the call-up of 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine was complete. (Reuters)

Ecuador's energy minister Xavier Vera resigned on Friday amid an investigation into accusations he arranged jobs at state oil company Petroecuador in exchange for bribes.

"I'm taking a step to the side with the sole purpose of being able to concentrate entirely on defending the slander leveled against me," said Vera, who has denied wrongdoing, in a message published on the energy ministry's Twitter profile.

The former minister thanked President Guillermo Lasso for his support and said his resignation would avoid the government being bogged down by the accusations.

Vera was the vice minister of mining for 10 months and later appointed the minister for mines and energy, which he held for six months.

Late on Thursday the attorney general's office, which said this week it was launching a probe, searched Vera's homes in Quito and Guayaquil and his office in the ministry of energy, as well as a hotel in the capital where someone else involved in the case had stayed.

Items like telephones and computers which were seized in the searches "will be entered into the chain of custody, amid the investigation for an alleged crime of bribery," the office said on Twitter.

The investigation was sparked by allegations in a digital media outlet that Vera, who began his ministerial post in April, had arranged jobs at state oil company Petroecuador in exchange for payments, among other corruption accusations.

He told local media on Thursday there was no proof against him and that the accusations were a systematic effort by criminals to discredit the government.

"This is something orchestrated by the mafias which have always prowled around my sector, which drives 30% of GDP, and I'm a rock in their shoe," Vera told Sonorama radio. "This is not a coincidence, this is a systematic effort to affect the image of the government."

"There is no concrete case, there is no recording of me, there is no photo of me, there is no audio of me, there is no video of me," he added. (Reuters)

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he received a phone call from his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on Friday and that he demanded Tehran stop sending weapons to Russia.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Iran of sending "kamikaze" drones to Russia which have then been used to devastating effect by Russian forces in strikes targeting Ukrainian infrastructure. Iran denies the charge.

"I demanded Iran to immediately cease the flow of weapons to Russia used to kill civilians and destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine," Kuleba said in a tweet.

Amirabdollahian repeated Iran's denial of supplying weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine, Iranian state media reported.

"We have good ties with Russia and have had defence cooperation since earlier, but our policy towards the war in Ukraine is to respect the territorial integrity of countries, not to send weapons to conflicting parties, stop the war and end the displacement of people," Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying.

Iran's drones have become a key weapon in Russia's arsenal during its war in Ukraine and have often been used in the past month to target crucial energy infrastructure. (Reuters)

Argentina reached a deal for the payment of some $2 billion it owes the Paris Club of creditors, Argentina's Economy Minister Sergio Massa said on Friday.

"Today, Argentina successfully completed an agreement with the Paris Club to normalize relations between our country, our companies, and our workers with the countries of the European bloc," the minister said.

The Paris Club, which counts the United States, Japan and Germany among its members, last year gave Argentina more time to repay the debt, allowing Buenos Aires to negotiate a revamp of its program with the International Monetary Fund.

Argentina sealed an agreement with the IMF earlier this year for a nearly $45 billion program to refinance a failed loan from 2018.

Calls to the Paris Club were unanswered outside regular office hours. (Reuters)