President Vladimir Putin called on the International Monetary Fund to lend an additional $3 billion to Ukraine so it can pay its debt to Russia.
"It would seem simpler to proceed this way: provide Ukraine with these $3 billion so it can pay and that everyone is happy,"Putin said October 13.
Russia has been blocking the IMF's $17.5-billion rescue plan for Ukraine, restricting Kyiv's ability to restructure billions of dollars in debt including the $3 billion owed to Moscow.
Moscow remains adamant that Kyiv should repay the debt by a December deadline. Ukraine issued the debt under Russian-backed president Viktor Yanukovych before he was ousted in February 2014.
Russia has said it will pursue court remedies and other measures if Ukraine defaults.
The IMF rescue funds are needed to keep Ukraine's pro-Western government afloat and cushion the economic blow from a pro-Russian separatist war in the east.
Putin warned the IMF against bending the rules "for a country destroying the system" and noted that Moscow, as a member of the IMF, was contributing to the fund's aid to Ukraine.
