The Russian rouble briefly reached its highest level against the dollar since March 2020 on Thursday, supported by capital controls, while stock indexes also climbed as the market watched developments around possible new sanctions against Moscow, Reuters reported. The volatile currency hit a high of 65.31 per dollar in early trading on the Moscow Exchange but by 1339 GMT was at 66.14, which was 0.2% stronger than its Wednesday closing level. The morning peak level had not been seen since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Union's executive on Wednesday proposed the toughest package of sanctions yet against Moscow for its war in Ukraine, but several countries worried about the impact of cutting off Russia oil imports stood in the way of agreement, Reuters reported. The new punishments, announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, included sanctions on Russia's top bank and a ban on Russian broadcasters from European airwaves, as well as the embargo on crude oil in six months.

A Dutch court ruled that Microsoft Corp. must allow bankruptcy trustees appointed to the Russia-linked Amsterdam Trade Bank to access to its data or face fines, Bloomberg News reported. The technology giant risks daily fines of 10 million euros ($10.5 million), with a maximum penalty of 100 million euros, if it doesn’t comply with the ruling, court-appointed trustee Job van Hooff said by phone late Tuesday. ATB, a lender linked to Russia’s Alfa Group, was declared bankrupt last month in the Netherlands after U.S. and U.K. sanctions paralyzed its payment systems.

Russia’s closely watched dollar payments on two bonds are trickling through to investors after the country dipped into its local holdings of the U.S. currency and sidestepped its first foreign default in a century, Bloomberg News reported. The transfer of the $650 million had got tangled up in the wide-ranging sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. And despite the 11th-hour escape before a Wednesday deadline to get the funds to creditors, Russia could face bigger hurdles within weeks that scupper future payments. For now, it appears money is getting through.

The European Union must avoid locking itself into years of dependence on fossil fuels as it races to replace Russian oil and gas with supplies from other countries, 11 former EU policy chiefs have said in a letter to the bloc's current leadership, Reuters reported. The European Commission will this month unveil plans to end Europe's reliance on Russian energy, which are expected to expand renewable energy faster while encouraging the urgent replacement of Russian gas with alternative supplies.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree cutting the state-backed mortgage rate and extending the programme, part of wider measures aimed at stimulating economic growth, Reuters reported. Russia is grappling with the fallout from Western sanctions over what Moscow calls a special military operation in Ukraine to demilitarise its neighbour and rid it of extreme anti-Russian nationalism. The state-backed mortgage scheme that has helped support a construction boom in Russia had been due to expire on July 1.

Poland urged its European Union partners on Monday to unite and impose sweeping sanctions on Russia’s oil and natural gas sectors over the war in Ukraine, and not to cave in to pressure to pay for their gas in Russian rubles, the Associated Press reported. The appeal came as EU ministers met in Brussels to discuss their response to Russia’s decision last week to cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland. Energy giant Gazprom says the two countries failed to pay their bills in April. “We will call for immediate sanctions on Russian oil and gas.

The sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine will not be lifted until Moscow reaches a peace agreement with Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, adding that it was for Ukraine to determine the peace terms, Reuters reported. Scholz, in an interview broadcast Monday on ZDF public television, said Russian President Vladimir Putin had miscalculated if he had anticipated he might be able to gain territory from Ukraine, declare an end to hostilities, and see Western countries drop sanctions. "He didn't think his entire Ukraine operation through," Scholz said.

The EMEA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee said on Thursday it met to prepare for holding an auction to settle credit default swaps in case Russia goes into default, Reuters reported. Russia made a payment due on April 4 on two sovereign bonds, but it was made in Russian roubles rather than the U.S. dollars it was mandated to under the bond terms. Earlier this month the Committee declared a "potential failure to pay" had occurred, dating it to April 4. A 30 calendar day grace period expires next week, after which Russia could be declared in default.

Investors who buy the depositary receipts (GDRs) of Russian-companies that were traded on foreign exchanges in order to swap them into shares will be unable to sell the shares quickly, Russia's central bank said in a statement on Wednesday, Reuters reported. A law that came into effect this month requires Russian companies to delist their depositary receipts from foreign bourses and convert them into local securities in a bid to reduce foreign control.