Washington and Beijing plan to hold high-level talks in Rome following reports that Russia has approached China for military equipment to support its Ukraine invasion. Moscow has also threatened to honour bond payments in rubles in retaliation to the freezing of more than half of its reserves. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva says that a Russian default is no longer “improbable”. Russian forces attack a military training base in western Ukraine, less than 30km from the Polish border, prompting Ukrainian President to once again call for NATO to close his country’s skies. Meanwhile, Asian markets are mixed. Australian and Japanese stocks surge but the Hang Seng plunges following renewed Covid cases and lockdowns in mainland China.  

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