Rouble and Russian stocks tumble as Ukraine peace talks collapse
Russia's currency and stock markets took a sharp hit on Wednesday following the collapse of scheduled ceasefire negotiations over the war in Ukraine.
Source: The Moscow Times
Details: Reuters reports that the dollar rose 1.5% to 82.71 roubles as of 12:30 Moscow time, while the dollar on the Russian interbank market rose to 83.1 roubles, the highest level in a week.
The euro rose by 2.2% to 94.5 roubles against the rouble, while the yuan rose by 2% to 11.35 roubles on the Moscow Exchange, also setting a weekly high.
The Moscow Stock Exchange index, which had touched 3,000 points just a day earlier, dropped to 2,900 at the open.
Shares of Gazprom, a Russian state-owned energy giant, fell by 3.2%, Sberbank, a Russian majority state-owned bank, by 1.5%, VTB by 3.1%, and Rosneft, a Russian integrated energy company, by 2.9%. Aeroflot, Russia's largest airline, lost more than 3% in value.
Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov reports that the negative dynamics are related to geopolitics, as the peace talks on the war in Ukraine scheduled for 23 April were disrupted.
Background:
The ministerial-level peace talks on the war in Ukraine, which were to be held in London under the chairmanship of UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday, will not take place
The heads of diplomatic missions of the United States, the UK, France, Germany and Ukraine were to attend the meeting.
Earlier reports indicated that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would not attend the talks. Instead, US President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is expected to participate.
Later, the media reported that the foreign ministers of France and Germany would also cancel their visit to London.
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