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 on Wednesday after Putin threatened to cut off all energy supplies if it took such a step, raising the risk of rationing in some of the world's richest countries this winter. * Ukraine said on Wednesday it might have to shut down the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to avoid a disaster and called on residents in areas near the embattled facility to evacuate for their own safety.

* 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. * 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. * Ukraine on Wednesday called for the residents of Russian-occupied areas around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to evacuate for their own safety.

ECONOMY, DIPLOMACY * The leader of Russia's governing party said that people in occupied regions of Ukraine should vote on Nov. 4 on whether they wanted to become part of Russia.

* Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked the European Union for confirming 5 billion euros ($5 billion) in financial aid but said the country needed a "full-fledged" programme of financing from the International Monetary Fund. * 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 Philippa Fletcher and Hugh Lawson)

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