The week's rough start for the US Dollar was fueled by the news of an “in principle” meeting between US president Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, regarding the situation on the Ukrainian border. The summit was proposed by the French leader, Emmanuel Macron.
According to the White House, Biden had accepted the meeting “in principle” but only “if an invasion hasn’t happened.” Kremlin was silent on the matter. The meeting could offer a possible diplomatic solution to one of the most significant security crises in Europe in decades.
Last week, the dollar benefited from the heightened tensions on the Ukrainian border, as Russian troops were massing and undertaking military exercises in neighboring Belarus. Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels exchanged accusations of violence in the eastern part of the country. The Russian ruble, which has been sensitive to the prospect of war, strengthened, with USD/RUB trading 0.9% lower at 0.7217.
In early European trading, the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded 0.3% lower at 95.745.
Sources: bbc.com, reuters.com