Some interesting comments from the CEO of Russia's second-largest bank, VTB Group, Andrei Kostin, in an interview with CNN's Richard Quest on the effect of the U.S. and EU sanctions:
"It does harm us, but at the moment we can cope with the help of the Russian Central Bank, which provides additional refinancing for Russian banks, including VTB, and also Russian government [represented by] the Russian treasury that also provides additional funding."
"We did not invent these sanctions, we did not introduce these sanctions. We are the hostage of, we believe, a geopolitical situation. As any hostage we can't influence the situation very much. We are going to be either killed, or paid out, or something should happen. But, I am afraid, we have to adjust to the situation now and try to continue our business."
"The UK listing authorities will do it for us for free" -- a reference to de-listing VTB from the London Stock Exchange -- "because they went beyond the sanctions -- beyond what the U.S. or [European authorities] are saying. They are forbidding to swap Russian stocks into ADR [American depository receipts] in London, and it means that sooner or later there will be no ADRs at the London Stock Exchange, and, of course, it's created a problem for our investors."
Interfax flashes:
RUSSIA'S PUTIN SAYS THAT RUSSIA WON'T DEMAND EARLY REPAYMENT OF $3 BLN LENT TO UKRAINE
Meanwhile, with criticism raining down on Russia's president in Brisbane, Interfax opts for this headline:
Pictures taken of Putin, Abbott holding koalas - spokesman
Here's our latest update on events in Brisbane:
Russian 'Aggression' In Ukraine Takes Center Stage At G20
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explicitly rejects report that Putin will depart Brisbane before "all the work is finished," but he does appear to leave open the possibility that Putin might skip the official lunch tomorrow, which AFP quoted a delegation member as describing as "an entertainment." Here's the Interfax report, citing Kommersant radio:
"The G20 summit will end tomorrow, and Vladimir Putin will definitely leave it when all the work is finished. The president will leave it then. Reuters has had it all wrong. The theme of sanctions is being broadly discussed [at the summit], but I wouldn't say that someone is pressing. Sanctions have been discussed actively and broadly at all bilateral meetings, but nobody is pressing," Peskov said on Kommersant-FM radio on Saturday.
And from AFP:
Vladimir Putin intends to cut short his attendance at the Group of 20 summit in Brisbane on Sunday, a Russian source said, with the strongman facing intense pressure from the West over Ukraine.
"The programme of the second day (for Putin) is changing, it's being cut short," a source in the Russian delegation told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Putin will attend summit sessions on Sunday but will skip an official lunch and address reporters earlier than planned, the source said, adding: "Lunch is more of an entertainment."