India is considering more than one alternative payment mechanism for its exporters if the war between Russia and Ukraine drags on for a long time and key trade sectors such as gems and jewellery face problems in international cash transfer, according to official sources.

Oil prices fell on Sunday at the start of the session, extending last week's decline, as a US official said Russia was showing signs it might be willing to have substantive negotiations over Ukraine.

France is to introduce a rebate of 0.15 euros ($0.16) per litre of transport fuel to help drivers cope with soaring pump prices, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in an interview with daily newspaper Le Parisien. The measure, to apply for four months from April 1, is expected to cost the government just over 2 billion euros, he said.

Oil prices settled higher on Friday but posted their steepest weekly decline since November, as traders assessed potential improvements to the supply outlook that has been disrupted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that it would “absolutely” face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Credit rater Fitch Saturday downgraded 28 Russian natural resources companies including state gas giant Gazprom, warning they risk defaulting on payments under sanctions imposed for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Surging prices for fuel, food and housing have sent US inflation to the highest in four decades, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made the situation worse, so the Federal Reserve is preparing to take action this week.

The cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will become a lot clearer next week, with a previously unthinkable sovereign default looming, more emergency central bank measures likely and a stock market crash guaranteed if it reopens.

Households across North Africa are rushing to stock up on flour, semolina and other staples as food prices rise following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, both key wheat exporters to the region.

Venezuela’s oil output could rise by at least 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) if the United States authorizes requests by state-run PDVSA’s partners to trade Venezuelan crude, the country’s petroleum chamber said on Friday.

The world economy’s fragile recovery from the Covid-induced crisis is now threatened by Russia’s war in Ukraine and soaring commodity prices.

Russia urged India to deepen its investments in the sanction-hit country’s oil and gas sector, and is keen on expanding the sales networks of Russian companies in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The United States and its allies moved Friday to end normal trade relations with Russia, as President Joe Biden vowed the West would make Vladimir Putin “pay the price” for his invasion of Ukraine.

The Group of Seven industrialised nations on Friday urged countries not to limit their food exports over the war in Ukraine after a meeting of their agriculture ministers to discuss the crisis.

While the rest of Europe grapples with surging prices, in Switzerland inflation is so tame that some key costs are actually falling.

Acerinox became the latest steel producer to halt operations in Spain on Thursday due to surging energy prices caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Consumer price inflation in Russia, which has been accelerating for months, hit a six-year high in February, Russia’s national statistics agency said Wednesday.

European Union leaders will tackle ways to wean themselves off Russian fossil fuels on Thursday and debate how quickly to ditch their key supplier, with countries split over whether to sanction oil and gas imports as Moscow wages war in Ukraine.

Russian firms have encountered problems in securing financing for April contracts to sell crude and oil products, but the situation can be resolved, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency on Thursday.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Tuesday issued an  “urgent appeal” to OPEC oil producers to ramp up output following a spike in prices and supply fears due to the Ukraine crisis.