USD/RUB eyes a gap-up on Monday ahead of Putin-Zelenskyy negotiations

• USD/RUB sees a bullish opening gap as the war situation intensifies after Putin's nuclear threat.
• Putin-Zelenskyy negotiations without preconditions have set a ground zero for fresh talks.
• The risk-sensitive assets have failed to capitalize on the expected negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.

The USD/RUB is set to open with a bullish gap, as the Russia-Ukraine war intensified post the announcement of a nuclear attack by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

This announcement of a nuclear threat by Moscow has spooked the investors. The move has established a negative impulse in the market. The statement has been called ‘totally unacceptable by US President Joe Biden and seems escalating the geopolitical tensions further. The market participants are hoping for more sanctions by the US and its allies on Russia.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden detached Russia from the global financial ecosystem, which collapsed the Russian international banking infrastructure. This had also paused the foreign investment flows. Moreover, the Russian citizens queued outside the ATMs for withdrawals in case of any liquidity crunch. Adding to that, the US also imposed restrictions on technology imports by Russia. Well, the Western allies were not left with any other option but to cripple the Russian economy after it stepped up its assault in Ukraine.

The United States (UN) estimates that the invasion of Ukraine has already created about 400,000 Ukrainian refugees in the last four days. And, the nuclear attack may worsen the Ukraine crisis further.

Meanwhile, the headlines of expected negotiations between the Kremlin and Ukraine have failed to provide a decent ground to the risk-sensitive assets. The nations are ready to negotiate without any preconditions, which seem that they want a ground zero for fresh negotiations.