Kyiv Gets Aides Boost as Xi Departs Moscow

As Chinese President, Xi Jinping sets to return to Beijing on Wednesday after his two-day visit to Moscow, Ukraine's Western allies have taken the decision to up their aides and arms supply to the beleaguered nation. 

Although Jinping did not offer any open support for Russia over its war with Ukraine while in Moscow, Reuters reports that the International Monetary Fund, IMF, has announced preliminary agreement with Kyiv to deliver a four-year loan package worth about $15.6bn.

The said loan is meant for reviving the country's economy shattered by the ongoing conflict. 

Earlier, Britain announced its decision to send the armour-piercing Challenger 2 battle tanks that contains depleted uranium to Ukraine.

In its reaction however, Putin condemned the plan and warned of dire repercussions.

"If all this happens, Russian will have to respond accordingly, given that the West collectively is already beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component," he said.

Washington has also made known its intention Rev up the delivery of 31 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine. This was revealed by Pentagon spokesperson, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, who added that the decision to send a variant of the tank that can run on diesel fuel like most of the Ukrainian fleet made faster delivery possible.

On Monday, EU countries made a pledge to send 1 million artillery rounds over the next year to Ukraine, which has been burning faster than allies can supply.

Meanwhile, Moscow has heralded Xi's visit as a display of solidarity by China. In particular, Putin is full of encomiums for the Chinese leader for proposing a peace plan on Ukraine.

He equally employed the moment to slam both Kyiv and the West for rejecting China's 12-point plan, viewed by Kyiv and its allies as part of Putin's plans to buy time to shore up his invading forces and solidify his grip on occupied land.

Although Xi barely reference the conflict in the course of the visit, he preferred to reiterate Beijing's position as impartial. In a joint statement however, he co-raised familiar accusations with Putin against the West, Washington and NATO in particular, accusing both of undermining global stability by barging into the Asia-Pacific region.

Both leadersalso emphasized that the close partnership between China and Russia is not a "military-political alliance."

But in its reaction, the White House noted that China has not been impartial in its position over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It urged Beijing to prevail on Moscow to withdraw from Ukraine's sovereign territory in order to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two.

Meanwhile, air raid sirens revved up across Kyiv and in the northern and Eastern flanks of Ukraine, heralding drone attacks. However, no major destruction has been reported.