From correspondents in Moscow, Russia, 12:00 AM IST

Russia is ready to buy $10 billion worth of bonds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

Putin said the money would be used to help countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The world leaders at the G20 London summit in April pledged to boost support for the IMF by injecting $500-billion into it in emergency lending, partly through issuance of bonds.

President Dmitry Medvedev had asked the government to study the feasibility of buying IMF bonds after the summit.

Putin also stressed the need to extend more help to Ukraine's energy sector to prevent disruption of gas supplies during the autumn and winter seasons, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)