Weekly

The talks on Ukraine remain the key factor for market sentiment in the region. The meeting of US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia ended with a signal of readiness for further talks not only on the end of the war in Ukraine, but also on the normalisation of diplomatic relations and economic cooperation. A Kremlin spokesman suggested that a direct meeting between D.Trump and V.Putin was possible before the end of this month (i.e. in the nearest week), but a bit later optimism on the matter was somewhat cooled by the US Secretary of State, who said that the timing of this meeting would depend on progress in the talks on ending the war.
Just after the weekend, however, attention will focus on the results of the German election. (...)

The last few days have passed in an atmosphere of anticipation for the Munich Security Conference (starts today, lasts until Sunday), where plans to end the war between Russia and Ukraine are expected to be announced. President Donald Trump signalled that US representatives would talk with Russian envoys about the issue during the conference, with further talks to take place in the following weeks, including in Saudi Arabia. Russia, however, denied sending its delegation to Munich; a meeting between Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Zelenski was, however, confirmed. The market mood just after the weekend may largely depend on the conclusions of these talks and the proposals made. In addition to the Ukraine-related topics, possible new US decisions on tariffs will continue to be important market-wise (...)