Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for an urgent meeting with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to stop the fighting that has engulfed much of the country and sent more than a million Ukrainians fleeing across international borders. He repeated calls for a Western-installed “no fly zone” over Ukraine and, failing that, asked for aircraft to bolster his country’s defences.

The World Bank and the IMF are also working together to assess the economic and financial impact of the conflict and refugees on other countries in the region and the world.

Uzbek migrant workers are expected to experience losses amid the depreciation of the Russian rouble and difficulties wiring the money back to their homes due to sanctions imposed on some of the Russian banks.

Urals crude is exported by both pipeline and sea. Seaborne deliveries are via two other major routes -- Primorsk and Ust Luga on the Baltic Sea and Novorossiisk on the Black Sea.

Azerbaijan is now set to produce 675,000 bpd in March and 682,000 bpd in April.