Closing post
Time to wrap up - here are today’s main stories on the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Russia could be set to miss a debt repayment this week, putting the country on the brink of default following the sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow has said tonight that it has sent an order to a correspondent bank to pay interest of $117.2m on external loans, which is due on Wednesday.
But Russia’s FX reserves largely frozen, it may not be able to make a coupon repayment in dollars, as required.
This morning, Russia’s finance ministry announced that it approved a temporary procedure for repaying foreign currency debts, but that roubles would be used if necessary.
Finance minister Anton Siluanov said in a statement:
“Claims that Russia cannot fulfil its sovereign debt obligations are untrue,”
“We have the necessary funds to service our obligations.”
Siluanov has also suggested that Russia will use its yuan reserves to settle its foreign exchange needs -- but that again might count as a default. If the payment is missed, Russia will have a 30-day grace period before formally defaulting.
In other Russia-related developments, the IMF has warned that the Ukraine economy could contract by a third this year as the war ravages its economy, driving millions to flee.
MPs have heard that petrol prices could surge 50% this year, as sanctions on Russia hit oil supplies.
The French music group Believe has been advising partners how to work around sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.
While the Tate has severed relations with Viktor Vekselberg and Petr Aven after the Russian billionaires were sanctioned by the US and EU after the invasion of Ukraine.
Facebook and Instagram users are not allowed to call for the death of Vladimir Putin, according to an update issued by their parent company.
Meta had issued new guidance on Friday allowing content that condoned the harm of Russian soldiers, with media reporting at the time that it also permitted content urging violence against the Russian president.
However, Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, has clarified the rules on posts, stating that “calls for the death of a head of state” are banned.
Squatters who have been surrounded by police on the balcony of a central London mansion owned by the oligarch Oleg Deripaska say they have “made their peace with getting arrested”.
Markets have risen in Europe, while oil price dipped back.
And in other news:
Goodnight. GW
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MPs also heard that British businesses’ optimism is weakening as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drives up inflation and hits consumer spending.
Tony Danker, director-general of the CBI, told the Treasury committee this afternoont that:
“Listening to them in the last two weeks, I think you are starting to see business confidence starting to waver now,”
Jagjit Chadha, director of Britain’s National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), also warned that growth could be wiped out by the surge in energy prices:
“At current energy and oil prices, the UK is skirting very close to a fall in activity. We’re going to be hovering around zero next year.”
