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LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - World stocks slid, oil prices jumped and the rouble tanked to fresh record lows on Monday, as the West ramped up sanctions against Russia for its attack on Ukraine that included blocking banks from the SWIFT global payments system.

Russia's central bank raised its key interest rate to 20% from 9.5% in an emergency move, and authorities told export-focused companies to be ready to sell foreign currency as the rouble slid almost 30% to record lows versus the dollar.

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) By abstaining from a UN Security Council resolution on the Ukraine crisis, India retained the option of reaching out to all relevant sides to find a middle ground and foster dialogue and diplomacy, official sources said on Saturday.

Russia vetoed the resolution that asked Moscow to immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops.

NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. equities reversed their earlier massive losses to finish higher on Thursday, snapping a four-day losing streak. But, it is not yet the time for investors to pop the champagne.

Analysts cautioned that continued volatility is expected amid uncertainty over the Ukraine crisis coupled with policy tightening from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The news that the Russia-Ukraine tensions have escalated into a military conflict overnight caused Wall Street to open Thursday's session with a plunge.

NEW YORK (AP) — Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter has threatened to remove Valery Gergiev as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic unless Gergiev publicly says by Monday that he does not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 68-year-old Russian conductor is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and supported Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Beijing, Feb 24 (AP) Stocks plunged and oil prices surged by more than 5 per barrel Thursday after President Vladimir Putin launched military action in Ukraine, prompting Washington and Europe to vow sanctions on Moscow that may roil the global economy.

Market benchmarks in Europe and Asia fell by as much as 4% as traders tried to figure out how large Putin's incursion would be and the scale of Western retaliation. Wall Street futures retreated by an unusually wide daily margin of 2.5%.

United Nations, Feb 25 (PTI) The UN Security Council will vote on a draft resolution on Friday tabled by the US and Albania that will condemn in the strongest terms possible Russia's aggression, invasion and violation of Ukraine's sovereignty, a move that seeks to isolate permanent and veto-wielding member Moscow on the global stage after Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to attack its neighbour.

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is likely to vote on Friday on a draft resolution that would condemn Russia for invading Ukraine and require Moscow to immediately and unconditionally withdraw, a senior U.S. administration official said.

Russia is expected to veto the measure, said the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, but the issue is then likely to be taken up by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly in the coming days.

NEW YORK (AP) — The two prosecutors in charge of the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump and his business dealings suddenly resigned Wednesday, throwing the future of the probe into question just as pressure was building on Trump on several legal fronts.

NEW YORK (AP) — As Russia intensified its aggression toward neighboring Ukraine earlier this week, Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio blasted President Vladimir Putin’s provocations as a “clear violation of international law.”

The co-chair of the Senate’s Ukraine Caucus urged the Biden administration to work with allies to “ensure a coordinated response to this unwarranted continued incursion on sovereign territory of Ukraine.”

But one of the Republicans running to replace the retiring Portman had a very different message.

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks tumbled worldwide on Thursday after Russia’s attack of Ukraine sent fear coursing through markets and upped the pressure on the high inflation already squeezing the global economy.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 sank 1.6% in early trading to continue its dismal start of the year. The benchmark is index is now down 13.5% from its record set early this year. Stocks in Europe sank even more after officials called Russia’s moves a “brutal act of war,” with the German DAX down nearly 5%.