

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin says he believes Ukraine can win the war, after talks with allies in Germany. Guterres said "I am concerned about the repeated reports of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and possible war crimes." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a visit to Moscow to call for an independent investigation into possible war crimes. President Putin says he hopes there will be a "positive result" for talks between Russia and Ukraine, citing progress at recent talks in Istanbul. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has made a plea for more Western weapons. Russia's state-owned Gazprom says it will cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria because they refuse to pay in rubles. CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network.British PM Boris Johnson has rejected a Russian allegation that NATO is fighting a 'proxy war' in Ukraine. Market holidays and trading hours provided by Copp Clark Limited. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices Copyright S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates.

Standard & Poor’s and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. US market indices are shown in real time, except for the S&P 500 which is refreshed every two minutes. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account

The country is facing its deepest recession since the 1990s, and the economy will shrink by a fifth this year, according to a recent forecast from S&P Global Market Intelligence. With that in mind, the rebound of the ruble and stock market moves shouldn’t be taken as a signal that Russia’s economy is on the mend. When trading was extended to all stocks this week, the index fell again. Only 33 stocks were allowed to trade when the market reopened.

The benchmark MOEX index trended higher when trading resumed a week ago after a long stoppage forced by the war, but analysts say that’s due to restrictions in place on investors, including a ban on short selling. The same is true for Russia’s stock market. When the restrictions are lifted, demand for the ruble will drop, and its value will slide - perhaps dramatically. The problem facing policymakers is that with Russia’s economy in tatters, nobody actually wants to buy the currency of their own accord. These measures have allowed Moscow to artificially manufacture demand for the ruble. Russia has threatened to demand payment for natural gas in rubles, not euros or dollars.Residents are not allowed to make bank transfers outside Russia.Russian brokers have been banned from selling securities held by foreigners.Exporters have been ordered to swap 80% of their foreign currency revenues for rubles rather than holding onto US dollars or euros.That encourages Russian savers to keep their money in local currency. The central bank has more than doubled interest rates to 20%.
