International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva has warned officials from the Group of 20 major economies to take urgent action to combat inflation, warning that the “exceptionally uncertain” global economic outlook could turn worse if higher prices were to persist.

Georgieva, speaking at a G20 finance officials meeting in Indonesia, stated Russia’s intensifying war in Ukraine had increased pressure on commodity and energy prices, and global financial conditions were tightening more than expected.

A two-day meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 major economies ended in Indonesia without a joint communique after Russia’s war in Ukraine divided the global forum.

During talks on the Indonesian resort island Bali, the finance chiefs looked for solutions to food and energy crises, while accusing Russian technocrats of exacerbating the problems.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday blamed the invasion of Ukraine for sending a shockwave through the global economy.

The Kremlin calls the war a “special military operation” and blames retaliatory Western sanctions for blocking food shipments and rising energy prices.

The British defence ministry says fighting is ongoing in the towns of Siversk and Bakhmut, despite claims by Moscow that its forces have captured areas in the region.

“Russia has previously made premature and false claims of success. This is likely at least in part aimed at demonstrating success to domestic audiences and to reinforce the morale of the fighting forces,” an intelligence briefing by the ministry said.

Russia’s offensive operations remains “reduced in scope and scale,” the briefing added.

Moscow-backed troops in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine say they are closing in on their next target, after wresting control of sister cities Lysychansk and Severodonetsk.

“Siversk is under our operational control, which means that the enemy can be hit by our aimed fire all over the area,” a pro-Moscow rebel official is cited as saying by Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Russian armed forces have destroyed a factory in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro that produced parts for Tochka-U ballistic missiles, according to the Russian defence ministry.

Russian forces have also shot down three Ukrainian airplanes and two helicopters, the ministry claimed.

Russia is using Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as a base to store weapons including “missile systems” and shell the surrounding areas in Ukraine, according to an official with Kyiv’s nuclear agency.

The president of Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom said the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear plant was “extremely tense”, with up to 500 Russian soldiers controlling the plant.

“The occupiers bring their machinery there, including missile systems, from which they already shell the other side of the river Dnieper and the territory of Nikopol,” Petro Kotin stated in a televised interview, referring to the city across the water.

In occupied parts of Ukraine, pro-Russian administrations are threatening residents with expulsions to Ukrainian-controlled territory if they voice criticism of the new leadership.

The measure aims to “maintain order” and counter “threats to socio-political stability,” according to decrees published in the southern Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.

The deportations apply in the case of “denigration” of government organs and Russia’s foreign policy, as well as the Russian army and allied forces. Unauthorised demonstrations, disruption of school activities or and unauthorised political activity are also to be punished in this way, the dpa news agency reported.

A US official has dismissed Russia’s claim that it targeted a meeting of the Ukrainian air force in Vinnytsia in an attack that Kyiv says killed 23 people, including children.

“I have no indication that there was a military target anywhere near that,” the senior defence official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Russian negotiator says grain agreements will not lead to Moscow-Kyiv talks

Agreements on export of the Ukrainian grain will not lead to the resumption of Russia-Ukraine talks, Leonid Slutsky, a Russian lawmaker who had taken part in peace talks with Kyiv in the past has said, according to state news agency TASS.

Russia’s proposals on how to resume Ukrainian grain exports were “largely supported” by negotiators at talks this week in Istanbul and an agreement was close, according to the Russian defence ministry.