Oil futures surged on Wednesday after Russia indicated there was a possibility of co-operation with OPEC, fanning hopes for a deal to reduce a global oversupply that sent prices to the lowest levels in over a dozen years last week.

• January 27, 2016

The head of Russia's Security Council said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday that the United States wanted a weakened Russia so as to gain access to its vast mineral resources.

• January 26, 2016

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and top non-OPEC producer Russia are showing signs of flexibility about agreeing to tackle an oil glut that has pushed prices to 12-year lows, the oil minister of Iraq said on Tuesday.

• January 26, 2016

Iranian President Hassan Rohani says Iran and China have agreed to expand bilateral relations and boost trade to $600 billion over the next 10 years.

• January 23, 2016

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Tehran on Friday to discuss improvement of economic and political ties after lifting of international sanctions because of Iran's disputed nuclear program, state TV said.

• January 22, 2016

The European Central bank will "review and possibly reconsider" it monetary policy stance when it next meets in March because of weaker-than-expected inflation dynamics in the euro zone, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday.

• January 22, 2016

Ukraine plans soon to launch a fresh diplomatic initiative to recover the Crimean peninsula from Russia which annexed it in 2014, Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko told Reuters on Wednesday.

• January 20, 2016

A Ukrainian government order to cut off trade with the Russian-annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea has come into effect.

• January 19, 2016