China-Backed Bank Halts Lending to Russia, Belarus

"The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said it will suspend business related
to Russia and Belarus in a sign of the two countries' deepening pariah status over the war in Ukraine.

In a statement issued Thursday, the AIIB said that "in the best interests of the bank, management has decided that all activities relating to Russia and Belarus are on hold and under review."

The bank was launched in 2016 to counter the West's dominance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund." MT