Page 14 - Cisc News Today

J.P. Morgan has become the latest major bank struggling to find Russian stocks linked to some client investments, adding to fears for investors still hoping to recoup some value from stranded assets in the country.

Hackers suspected of working for Russia's foreign intelligence agency targeted dozens of diplomats at embassies in Ukraine with a fake used car advert in a bid to break into their computers, according to a cybersecurity firm report seen by Reuters.

Russia is decaying in a potent brew of absurdity and repression that is comparable to the Leonid Brezhnev-era of the Soviet Union, Oleg Orlov, one of the Russia's most respected human rights campaigners, told Reuters.

NATO leaders at this week's summit in Vilnius said Ukraine should be able to join the military alliance at some point in the future but dashed Kyiv's hopes for an immediate invitation.

Russian foreign intelligence chief Sergei Naryshkin said on Wednesday that he and CIA counterpart William Burns had discussed "what to do with Ukraine" in a phone call late last month, Russia's TASS news agency said.

Extra crude production cuts announced by Saudi Arabia and Russia have removed some downside risk and stemmed the erosion of the spot prices and calendar spreads evident since early in the second quarter.

Inflation in Russia accelerated in June, data from the state statistics service Rosstat showed on Wednesday, a little over a week before the central bank is expected to hike interest rates for the first time in more than a year.

The German government has finalised a 700-million-euro ($770.28 million) military aid package for Ukraine, the defence ministry said on Tuesday, the first day of a NATO summit in Vilnius.

NATO allies said on Tuesday they were seriously concerned by Iran's "malicious activities" within allied territory and called Tehran to stop its military support to Russia, including the supply of drones.

A deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea expires on July 17 and with Moscow saying it sees no grounds for an extension there are fears it may collapse.