Over the weekend, US officials tried to mitigate comments by US President Joe Biden that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”. They stressed that the US is not seeking “regime change” in Russia but an end to the invasion. The Russian army seems to have stalled on most fronts, although it is close to take Mariupol and said it would now focus on the Donbas region.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% this morning, with HSBC up 1.3% and Unilever by 0.6%. However, BP and Shell were down 1% and 0.7%, respectively.

Fashion retailer Ted Baker dropped 3.4% after rejecting two takeover proposals from private equity firm Sycamore.

 

Things to read today:

Zelensky says Ukraine ready to discuss neutrality in peace talks with Russia (Financial Times)

Biden Seeks to Temper Remark on Putin as U.S. Allies Object (Bloomberg)