Even though Russia has lost influence and friends since the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989, the nuclear superpower still holds sway over several of its neighbors in Europe and keeps others in an uneasy neutrality.

The Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine and the humanitarian tragedy it provoked over the past two weeks have raised a Western outcry of heartfelt support and spawned calls for a fundamental rethink of how the geopolitical map of Europe should be redrawn in the future.

Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal early Wednesday providing $13.6 billion to help Ukraine and European allies plus billions more to battle the pandemic as part of an overdue $1.5 trillion measure financing federal agencies for the rest of this year.

Though a tiny portion of the massive bill, the money responding to the Russian blitzkrieg that's devastated parts of Ukraine and prompted Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II ensured robust bipartisan support for the legislation. President Joe Biden had requested $10 billion for military, humanitarian and economic aid last week, and Democratic and Republican backing was so staunch that the figure grew to $12 billion Monday and $13.6 billion just a day later.

The European Union is seeking to fully phase out its dependency on Russian energy "well before 2030" to ensure the 27-nation bloc no longer faces difficult decisions about hurting their own economies in geopolitical crises like the invasion of Ukraine.

The EU leaders meet in Versailles outside Paris for a two-day summit starting Thursday and will be working on ways to reduce their dependency on Moscow for fossil fuels.

Stocks around the world swung on Tuesday, oil prices rose sharply and the price of nickel surged so much that trading for it was shut in London, as the economic fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine keeps rocking markets.

The S&P 500 was virtually flat in early trading after swinging between gains and losses, as gains for ExxonMobil and other oil companies benefiting from higher crude prices weighed against losses elsewhere.

Libya's national oil company said it resumed oil production Tuesday from the country's largest field three days after an armed group shut it down.

The state-run National Oil Corporation said pump valves at the Sharara field were opened a few minutes after midnight local time.

President Joe Biden announced a ban on US imports of Russian oil on Tuesday, in the administration's most far-reaching action yet to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.

"We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to (President Vladimir) Putin," Biden said in an address from the White House, adding that the decision was taken "in close consultation" with allies.

U.K. lawmakers are set to pass a bill on Monday aimed at toughening sanctions on Russia and rooting out ill-gotten money from the British economy.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Economic Crime Bill will let British authorities "pursue (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's allies in the U.K. with the full backing of the law, beyond doubt or legal challenge."

FlyDubai on Monday reported a $229 million profit last year as the state-owned budget carrier saw its business rebound from the coronavirus pandemic and as regulators allowed it to again fly the Boeing 737 Max.

FlyDubai nearly doubled its revenue in 2021 to over $1.4 billion, compared to just $773 million the year before in the thick of pandemic restrictions and after two crashes saw the 737 Max grounded. In 2020, the airline saw a loss of $194 million.

Leading Russian banks are looking into issuing cards that operate on a Chinese payment system after Visa and Mastercard said they would cut their services in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Sberbank and Tinkoff Bank said that they are considering the possibility of payment cards powered by China's UnionPay system. Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, said it would announce the launch date later.

- Bakeries Closing Doors -

Several bakeries closed Monday as mills only delivered flour to Arabic bread bakeries, according to the mills agent in the South, Ali Rammal.