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.

Euro zone economic growth was slower than expected in the first three months of the year, preliminary data showed on Friday, as the war in Ukraine started on Feb 24 hit economic activity and helped drive inflation to a new high, Reuters reported. The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.2% quarter-on-quarter for a 5.0% year-on-year gain. Economists polled by Reuters had expected 0.3% quarterly growth.

Hungary's OTP Bank, Central Europe's largest independent lender, is under pressure from the government of Ukraine, where the bank is also present, to sell its Russian unit, Chief Executive Sandor Csanyi said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Earlier this month Csanyi said the bank would sell its Russian operation if there was a buyer, adding market presence there could become a moral issue. The Russian and Ukrainian units accounted for 15.8% of OTP's profit last year.

Canada plans to give itself the power to seize the assets of sanctioned Russian individuals and companies and use them to compensate victims of the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported. The new measures will be included in the government’s budget legislation, meaning they are almost certain to pass in parliament by summer. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the law will be the first of its kind in the Group of Seven. Canada has now sanctioned more than 1,100 Russian individuals and companies since President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Germany’s employers and unions have joined together in opposing an immediate European Union ban on natural gas imports from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, saying such a move would lead to factory shutdowns and the loss of jobs in the bloc’s largest economy, the Associated Press reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday he spoke with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva about Ukraine's financial stability and the country's post-war reconstruction, Reuters reported. "Discussed with IMF Managing Director Georgieva the issue of ensuring Ukraine's financial stability & preparations for post-war reconstruction. We have clear plans for now, as well as a vision of prospects. I’m sure cooperation between the IMF & Ukraine will continue to be fruitful," Zelenskiy said in a tweet.

People on the streets of Berlin have waved Ukrainian flags in demonstrations of support since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. But those who drove to the rallies did so largely in cars powered by oil from Russia, which provides most of the fuel to the German capital, Reuters reported. Just over a third of Germany's crude oil came from Russia last year, official data shows. Until the invasion of Ukraine in February, the dependence of Europe's largest economy on cheap energy from Russia – in part, a legacy of the Cold War – was not viewed as problematic by the authorities.

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday that Russia’s war against Ukraine was weakening the economic prospects for most of the world’s countries and called high inflation “a clear and present danger” to the global economy, the Associated Press reported. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the consequences of Russia’s invasion were contributing to economic downgrades for 143 countries, although most of them should continue to grow. The war has disrupted global trade in energy and grain and is threatening to cause food shortages in Africa and Middle East.

The World Bank is preparing a $1.5 billion support package for war-torn Ukraine and plans to aid developing countries struggling to keep up with surging food and energy prices, World Bank President David Malpass said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. In remarks at the Warsaw School of Economics in Poland, Malpass said that the bank was helping Ukraine provide critical services, including paying wages for hospital workers, pensions and social programs.

The fallout of the Russia and Ukraine war has just helped tip two of world's poorest countries into full-blown crises, and the list of those at risk - and the queue at the International Monetary Fund's door - will only get longer from here, Reuters reported. They may be far from the fighting in Ukraine, but a mass resignation of Sri Lanka's cabinet on Monday read more and drastic weekend manoeuvres by Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan to avoid his removal read more , show how far the economic impact spreads.