Alrosa, a partly state-owned Russian diamond mining company, started shipping rough diamonds to India after a pause, the Economic Times reported on Wednesday. According to the outlet, the exporters are using German banks to make transactions in euros due to the sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its attack on Ukraine.

The Russian ruble has been gradually strengthening against the US dollar and euro, making gains for the sixth day straight on Thursday. The ruble plunged to historic lows amid Western sanctions after the country launched its military operation in Ukraine.

Beijing will never forget who bombed its embassy in Belgrade, its mission to the EU said China has dismissed calls from NATO for it not to support Russia in any way on Thursday, reminding the bloc it was its US-led forces which bombed its embassy in Belgrade during the 1999 attack on Yugoslavia.