Ukraine’s consulate in the border city of Brest is set to be closed amid spying accusations Ukraine’s diplomatic presence in Belarus will be reduced from two dozen to just five people in the embassy, with the consulate in the Polish border city of Brest set to close in order to prevent “unfriendly actions,” Minsk announced…

The ruble has surged on Wednesday after the announcement that payments for gas exports to certain Western countries will be switched to Russia’s domestic currency. The Russian currency immediately rose to a three-week high of 95 rubles against the dollar, before settling below 100. It also gained 3.5% against the EU’s currency, trading at 110.5…

One of the world’s key crude routes, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), suspended oil loading at its Black Sea marine terminal near Novorossiysk on Wednesday due to “critical” storm-caused damage to the equipment. Crude pumping has been reduced, with operations potentially fully halting in a day.