Bloomberg Estonia’s prime minister issued a warning that the European Union and the US must avoid falling into a Russian “trap” in negotiations with the Kremlin, whose aim is to weaken security in the EU. Russia’s negotiating tactics amount to “blackmail,” said Kaja Kallas, the Estonian premier, using some of the most hawkish language of an EU member state ...

  Bloomberg This week’s inconclusive diplomacy by the US and Europe to head off a possible Russian military move against Ukraine was a “disturbing” outcome, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN. While saying “we’re not speaking about military action” in the sense of setting an ultimatum, Peskov reiterated Russia’s call for Nato to guarantee it will never admit Ukraine — ...

  Bloomberg North Korea said it tested two tactical guided missiles, as it ratchets up pressure on the Biden administration with its biggest string of missile launches since August 2019. “The test-fire was aimed to selectively evaluate tactical guided missiles being produced and deployed and to verify the accuracy of the weapon system,” the state’s official Korean Central News Agency ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s Liberal National Coalition government has seen its approvals fall to the lowest point since April last year in a new opinion poll, in the latest sign of eroding support for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of the Omicron surge during an election year. The primary vote for the center-right Liberal and National parties dropped to 34% in ...

  Bloomberg Boris Johnson’s former top aide Dominic Cummings accused the prime minister of lying to Parliament, saying he would “swear under oath” that the premier was aware of and allowed a drinks party at Downing Street at the height of lockdown in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. By saying Johnson misled lawmakers, Cummings is again upping the ...

  Bloomberg Bulgaria’s new premier and his freshly sworn-in counterpart in North Macedonia made a joint push to resolve a regional dispute that would open a path for the former Yugoslav republic to begin accession talks with the European Union. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov traveled to North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, on Tuesday for talks with that country’s newly elected ...

  Bloomberg The balance sheets of Ireland’s biggest banks have risen by two thirds since the Brexit vote, the latest data to demonstrate how Europe’s financial landscape is shifting following the UK’s departure from the European Union. Banks in Ireland regulated by the ECB’s Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) saw their balance sheets increase from 300 billion euros ($342 billion) in ...

  Bloomberg Credit Suisse Group AG’s Chairman Antonio Horta-Osorio resigned after just nine months in the role, following a series of missteps including reported breaches of Swiss and UK quarantine rules that eroded confidence in his leadership. His departure follows an investigation commissioned by the board, Zurich-based Credit Suisse said in a statement. The bank named board member Axel P. ...

  Bloomberg Executives at banking giants including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are struggling to return to Hong Kong after the city banned flights from eight countries, part of an outlier Covid Zero strategy that’s threatening its appeal as financial hub. At least a dozen Hong Kong-based managing directors at banks, also including Morgan Stanley and ...

  Bloomberg Canadian banks are bringing forward their forecasts for interest rate hikes to as early as next week, amid growing evidence the economy is hitting limits and inflation pressures are rising. Economists at TD Securities and Laurentian Bank said the Bank of Canada will start a hiking cycle at its policy decision on January 26. Bank of Montreal brought ...