Diplomats returning to Kyiv to show support

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer says the Austrian embassy staff will return to Kyiv from western Ukraine.

The Austria Press Agency reported that Nehammer announced the move during a visit on Saturday to Kyiv, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Nehammer said that “since the situation around Kyiv has now stabilized somewhat, the Austrian embassy's team will resume its work in the Ukrainian capital.” He said it's a sign of Austria's ''full support for Ukraine at this very difficult time.” The team had been moved at the beginning of the war to an outpost in Uzhhorod, near the Slovak border in Ukraine's far west.

The European Union also has returned its ambassador to Kyiv and Italy also reportedly plans to reopen its embassy there.

___ Boston: The International Monetary Fund has created an account to give donor countries a secure way to funnel financial assistance directly to war-ravaged Ukraine.

The multilateral lender said in a statement Friday that it's launching the account at the request of several member countries.

The goal is to help Ukraine meet its payment obligations and help stabilise its economy using loans or grants from pooled resources.

The IMF says Canada has proposed routing up to 1 billion Canadian dollars ($795 million) to Ukraine through the new account.

Two weeks after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, the IMF approved a $1.4 billion emergency loan to Ukraine.