Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich during a signing ceremony after a meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission at the Kremlin in Moscow, December 17, 2013. Russia will buy $15 billion worth of Ukrainian securities, Putin said after talks with Yanukovich in the Kremlin on Tuesday. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia told Ukraine on Tuesday it had transferred the first $3 billion (£1.83 billion) tranche of a $15 billion bailout, part of plans to keep Kiev firmly within Moscow's orbit and out of the European Union's embrace.
President Vladimir Putin offered Ukraine the lifeline last week, along with a big cut in the price Kiev pays for vital Russian gas supplies, as he tries to persuade Russia's Slavic neighbour to join a customs union of ex-Soviet republics.
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