Since being shut out of much of the global financial system, Russia has sought alternatives to soften the effects of Western sanctions.

It has turned to China for an economic lifeline and has been increasingly embracing the yuan.

Trade between the two countries hit a record of $190bn last year, with much of those payments made in Chinese and Russian currencies.

The two biggest geopolitical rivals of the United States want to counterbalance the dominance of the dollar worldwide.

Elsewhere, Ukraine has won the IMF's first loan to a country at war.

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