Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

President Vladimir Putin mooted on Wednesday reopening a U.N.-brokered deal for Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea and threatened to halt all energy supplies to Europe if Brussels caps the price of Russian gas.

President Vladimir Putin mooted on Wednesday reopening a U.N.-brokered deal for Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea and threatened to halt all energy supplies to Europe if Brussels caps the price of Russian gas. ENERGY

* The European Union proposed a price cap on Russian gas after President Vladimir Putin threatened to halt all energy supplies if they took such a step, raising the risk of rationing in some of the world's richest countries this winter. * Italy could consider lowering the heating temperature in industrial and residential buildings by 2 degrees Celsius in case of a "catastrophe" over Russian gas flows, the minister for ecological transition told Corriere della Sera.

* Ukraine is looking at the option of shutting down its Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant for safety reasons and is worried about the reserves of diesel fuel used for backup generators, Kyiv's top nuclear safety expert said. * U.N. chief Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to agree to a demilitarized perimeter around the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power plant.

GRAIN * Putin said he would discuss "limiting the destinations for grain and other food exports" with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, who helped broker the deal to free up exports from Ukraine's southern ports in July.

* Putin also said some restrictions on Russia's fertiliser exports had been eased, but problems remained. * A Ukrainian presidential adviser said Russia had no grounds to review the grain deal and that its terms were being strictly observed.

FIGHTING * Ukrainian forces have attacked the Russian-held eastern town of Balakliia in the Kharkiv region, a senior pro-Moscow separatist official said, as Ukrainian officials remained guarded about how their counter-offensive was faring.

* Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces had taken the settlement of Kodema in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region from Ukrainian forces. ECONOMY

* Putin said the West was failing because an aggressive and futile attempt to isolate Russia with sanctions was destroying the global economy just as Asia was rising to claim the future. * The head of Russia's VTB said the banking sector had largely overcome the most serious effects of Western sanctions and that systemic capitalisation of Russian banks was likely not needed.

* The U.S. Treasury is seeking to design a simple compliance regime for enforcing a price cap on Russian oil exports and hopes that China and India join the coalition or at least take advantage of it, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said. (Compiled by Stephen Coates and Philippa Fletcher)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)