Russian ruble trends weaker as oil prices slips

The Russian ruble fell on Wednesday against the US dollar and the euro after a continued decline in global oil prices to the lowest in five years.

Adding to the weak oil prices, the western sanctions on Russia harmed the ruble, but the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev downplayed the negative effects of sanctions on the Russian economy.

The Russian Central Bank will intensively follow up with the ruble to ensure fewer losses and work on immediate intervention when needed.

The US dollar failed to break 55 ruble and is still below these historical levels.

The ruble retreated 0.77% against the dollar at 14:26 GMT, trading around 54.46. The euro dropped to 67.47 against the ruble.