President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on some of Russia's biggest firms for the first time, striking at the heart of Vladimir Putin's powerbase by targeting companies closest to him over Moscow's failure to curb violence in Ukraine.

• July 17, 2014

New U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia for its actions in Ukraine will make it more difficult for Russian companies to refinance existing international loans and has dashed hopes that Russia's syndicated loan market is reopening, bankers said on Thursday.

• July 17, 2014

With talks between world powers and Iran over a broad nuclear accord at an impasse, Western governments are considering offering a significant easing of sanctions early on in the process to try to wring concessions from Tehran, diplomats say.

• July 17, 2014

European Union leaders want to block loans for new projects in Russia by two multilateral lenders and broaden the scope of other sanctions in response to Moscow's actions in Ukraine, according to a draft statement seen by Reuters.

• July 16, 2014

China and the United States must avoid a "new cold war" in their international relations, China's top newspaper said on Saturday, in the wake of high level talks in Beijing between senior leaders of the world's two largest economies.

• July 12, 2014

The European Union targeted Ukrainian separatist leader Aleksandr Borodai and 10 other rebels with travel bans and asset freezes on Saturday, avoiding fresh sanctions on Russian business to avoid antagonizing its main energy supplier.

• July 12, 2014

The European Union sought to reassure Russia on Friday that a free-trade pact with Ukraine was not aimed at hurting Moscow but rejected calls to postpone its implementation, offering more talks instead.

• July 11, 2014

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi urged euro zone states to respect their joint fiscal rules and extend their cooperation to economic reforms, telling governments they must "learn to govern together".

• July 11, 2014