This in from our News Desk:
The Russian ruble fell to new record low against the dollar and sank against the euro in trading on the Moscow Exchange today.
The dollar gained 32 kopecks against the ruble to a record high of 39.50 rubles to the dollar as of late this morning Moscow time, while the euro went over the 50-ruble mark to 50.13 rubles to the euro.
The new record low against the dollar comes on the heels of steep ruble declines on September 26.
The Russian Central Bank has said it is very close to intervening to support the ruble against the dollar and the euro.
Meanwhile, shares of the Russian company Sistema fell by 10 percent today on the Moscow Stock Exchange.
Sistema is owned by billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who is under house arrest on corruption charges.
Marlene Holzner, a spokeswoman for EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger, speaking on Monday at the EU Commission midday briefing in Brussels on the interim energy deal agreed between Russia and Ukraine on Friday:
"The governments in Kyiv and also in Moscow, they have time to look at what we have put down on paper, what we believe can be a very viable compromise for the two sides, for both Russia and Ukraine, and we give them the time to express their opinion, to say, 'Look, we want to change here some details,' so that we have something to discuss when we hopefully come together in the same format, as a trilateral meeting -- that means the Russian energy minister [Aleksandr Novak], the Ukraine energy minister [Yuriy Prodan], and it means [EU Energy Commissioner Gunther] Oettinger. That is likely to happen at the end of this week."