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People walk with their luggage amid train tracks, as refugees flee Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the train station in Lviv, Ukraine Mar 5, 2022. (Photo: REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach) - 

The International Monetary Fund on Saturday (Mar 5) said it expected to bring Ukraine's request for US$1.4 billion in emergency financing to its board for approval as early as next week and was in talks about funding options with authorities in neighboring Moldova.

In a statement, the global lender said the war in Ukraine was already driving energy and grain prices higher, and had sent a wave of more than 1 million refugees to neighboring countries, while triggering unprecedented sanctions on Russia.

"While the situation remains highly fluid and the outlook is subject to extraordinary uncertainty, the economic consequences are already very serious," the IMF said in a statement after a board meeting chaired by Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

"The ongoing war and associated sanctions will also have a severe impact on the global economy," it warned, noting that the crisis was creating an adverse shock to inflation and economic activity at a time when price pressures were already high.

It said price shocks would be felt worldwide, and authorities should provide fiscal support for poor households for whom food and fuel made up a higher proportion of expenses, adding that the economic damage would increase if the war escalated.

Sweeping sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States, European countries and others would also have "a substantial impact on the global economy and financial markets, with significant spillovers to other countries."

In addition to the human toll, Ukraine was experiencing substantial economic damage, with sea ports and airports closed and damaged, and many roads and bridges damaged or destroyed.

"While it is very difficult to assess financing needs precisely at this stage, it is already clear that Ukraine will face significant recovery and reconstruction costs," it said.

The board was expected to consider Ukraine's request for US$1.4 billion in emergency financing as early as next week. Ukraine also has US$2.2 billion available through June under an existing stand-by arrangement, the IMF said last week.

Moldova and other countries with close economic ties to Ukraine and Russia were at "particular risk" of scarcity and supply disruptions, the IMF said.

It said IMF staff were actively discussing funding options with Moldova, which has requested an augmentation and rephasing of its existing US$558 million IMF loan program to help meet the costs of the current crisis//CNA

Russian President Vladimir Putin's talks with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett appeared to be his first with a foreign leader devoted to the conflict in Ukraine (Photo: SPUTNIK/AFP/File/Mikhail Klimentyev, JACK GUEZ) - 

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held Kremlin talks with Vladimir Putin Saturday (Mar 5), the Russian president's second meeting with a foreign leader since his forces invaded Ukraine last week.

Bennett has so far not joined other foreign leaders in condemning the Russian offensive, stressing Israel's strong ties with both Moscow and Kyiv. Ukraine has previously asked Bennett to mediate.

A statement from Bennett's office said the premier "took off early this morning for Moscow, after speaking with President Putin last Wednesday."

Bennett is a religious Jew who does not conduct official business on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, except under extraordinary circumstances.

An Israeli official said the Kremlin talks lasted three hours.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that Putin and Bennett were "discussing the situation in Ukraine."

The meeting appeared to be the first with a foreign leader devoted to the Ukraine conflict.

Putin received Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Kremlin on the day the invasion began, in a visit that was long schduled but widely considered ill-timed.

On Monday, Khan defended the trip - the first by a Pakistani leader to Russia in more than two decades.

"My foreign policy is independent and visits to China and Russia will prove beneficial for Pakistan in the future," he said in a televised address//CNA

Debris are scattered around the hole in a road at the site where several houses have been damaged by an explosion, following an air strike in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine Mar 5, 2022 in this picture obtained from social media. (Photo: Kyiv Oblast Police/Handout via REUTERS) - 

At least 351 civilians are confirmed to have been killed in Ukraine since Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24, and another 707 wounded, although the true numbers are probably "considerably higher", a UN monitoring mission said on Saturday (Mar 5).

Most of the civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and from missile and air strikes, monitors from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

"OHCHR believes that the real figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intensive hostilities have been going on was delayed and many reports were still pending corroboration," it said.

The mission said hundreds of civilian casualties alleged in the town of Volnovakha - where attempts were under way to open a safe evacuation corridor through encircling Russian forces - were yet to be corroborated//CNA

The German-flagged tanker Seacod is docked the Stanlow refinery in northwest England -- British dockers have refused to unload the Russian oil from the ship (Photo: AFP/Lindsey Parnaby) - 

British dockers on Saturday (Mar 5) refused to unload Russian oil from a tanker, calling for the government to close a "loophole" in sanctions allowing foreign-flagged ships to deliver the fuel.

The Seacod is currently moored near the Stanlow refinery in northwest England, and unions say its cargo is not covered by a ban on Russian vessels because it is German flagged.

UK sanctions introduced over the invasion of Ukraine ban all ships that are Russian owned, operated, controlled, registered or flagged from entering British ports.

Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said that "due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Unite workers at the (Stanlow) facility will under no circumstances unload any Russian oil regardless of the nationality of the vessel."

"Unite urges the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to close this loophole immediately."

The refinery's operator, India's Essar, said it was "deeply concerned by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine and is fully complying with the statutory framework implemented by the UK government with regard to Russia-related entities".

The UK is less dependent on Russian energy than many other European nations.

The Unison union said two other Cyprus-flagged tankers carrying Russian gas, the Boris Vilkitsky and Fedor Litke, were turned away from the Isle of Grain in Kent, southeastern England, on Friday.

"While it looks like our intervention has been successful in seeing these ships turned away, a more fundamental problem remains," Unison national officer for energy Matt Lay said in a statement.

"The government must act immediately to close the loophole that does not cover the origin of vessels' cargo and stop Russian goods continuing to arrive in the UK under the cover of another country."//CNA