WASHINGTON, on Oct. 18—The International Monetary Fund and Ukraine announced an agreement on Monday that could pave the way for Kyiv to receive a $700 million disbursement and secure an extension to its $5 billion loan program through to June. Ukraine had secured a stand–by loan deal last year as the country, one of Europe’s poorest, tumbled into recession due to the coronavirus pandemic. But loan disbursal stalled over concerns about reforms and the independence of the central bank. The latest agreement is a boost for President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government, which has repeatedly pushed back its estimates of when new International Monetary Fund loans might become available and faced criticism over perceived backsliding on reforms. The International Monetary Fund said the completion of the first review of the $5 billion arrangement, now slated to expire in December, would enable disbursements of about $700 million to the country. Zelenskiy said he …