Russian shares accelerated their gains on the afternoon of 27 October after President Vladimir Putin held telephone talks with leaders from Finland and Norway.
The Moscow Exchange index surged above the 2,500 mark for the first time in a long time, rising by 1.12 percent to reach 2,519.3 points by the time of the report. The telephone negotiations were held on the joint initiative of Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.
The Kremlin confirmed that the phone conversation took place on 27 October. According to Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin and the Scandinavian leaders discussed questions regarding the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.
Officials in Helsinki also confirmed the high-level dialogue. The office of President Stubb described the conversation as frank and substantive, noting that Finnish authorities had conducted prior consultations with officials in Kyiv while preparing for the discussion.
Moscow Exchange benchmark
The Moscow Exchange serves as Russia's primary financial marketplace, hosting trading in equities, government bonds, corporate debt, currencies and derivatives. Its headline index tracks the performance of the largest and most liquid publicly traded companies in the country, including major enterprises in the energy, banking and mining sectors.
Both Finland and Norway are Nordic nations that share land borders with Russia in northern Europe. Trading on the Moscow market has remained highly sensitive to broader diplomatic signals and geopolitical developments connected to the conflict, with investors closely watching any engagement between Russia and neighbouring European states.
Planned talks in Abu Dhabi
Stubb's office said the telephone discussion was connected to upcoming meetings in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Those discussions are planned as new trilateral negotiations between representatives of Russia, the United States and Ukraine.
The timing of the proposed summit remains unresolved. According to Peskov, a date for the new trilateral negotiations between Russian, American and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi has not yet been determined.
