during a videoconference this morning. it was the leaders' first conversation since russia's invasion. xi told joe biden that the invasion is not what we wanted to see, according to a report. a top aide to ukraine's president says peace talks with the russians are ongoing but that the pace is slow. >> the talks continue. the progress is not that fast. any talks ideally should take place in terms of cease-fire, which is not the case currently. mark: he says a cease-fire should be implemented immediately. italy will gradually scrap almost all coronavirus restrictions starting at the end of the month. the prime minister says the

government is watching the pandemic and is taking fundamental steps towards re-opening. germany plans to lift most covid-19 related curbs this weekend. the latest world happiness report indicates finland is the happiest country on earth for the fifth year in a row. the study uses global data from more than 150 countries covering gdp per capita, health, social support, and personal freedoms. denmark was second followed by iceland and switzerland. the u.s. ended up 16th. global news, 24 hours a day, on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in over 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. >> welcome to bloomberg markets.

>> here are the top stories we are following from around the world. president xi and joe biden held a call on ukraine, we will have details on what we learned from the conversation and with the war causing another volatile week in oil, we will speak to ellen wald from the global energy center on how long the chaos and commodities could last. we will take into the trading relationship between the u.s. and canada, we speak to the acting consul general of canada to new york as restrictions loosen up. all of that and more coming out. jon: let's get a check at the major averages as we head into the weekend and there is green on the screen. in canadian trading, we have seen a record high. the nasdaq is leading the percentage move higher. for the s&p, we could end up more than 5% higher.

we have been tracking the story. president biden, president xi, a phone call this morning. their first since russia's invasion of ukraine. let's get more perspective, annmarie hordern has been following that call. outside of that chinese message, we should point out that there were other things we heard on western sanctions. at the end of the day, what can you tell us about the conversation and the reactions? annmarie: i only know what the chinese are putting out. this is a number of chinese state-run television news agencies are putting out what the chinese viewed the call. xi jinping lamented about the state of the world saying it is neither stable or tranquil. he also said the war in ukraine is not something we want to see. china has not condemned the actions nor supported it, but

they also want to make the point that they don't want to be stuck in the middle of these sanctions that are united states and european countries and even asian countries like japan are putting on russia. what we are waiting for is what the white house says of that call. matt: i thought it was interesting that a chinese state media reported president she said the nation should not resort to arms. especially if you look at the potential conflict between china and taiwan, we have him on record saying arms is not the way to solve things. annmarie: that is what china says. also what we know is there have been times where they have made these minor incursions into taiwan's airspace, a lot of the times using military equipment they bought from russia. china saying this, maybe you can read into it that they are not

at the place where they want to provide that military assistance that president putin asked for. matt: we had reports the other day that the salaries are talking to the chinese about selling them oil and this could change the calculus for everybody including russia. let's bring in ellen wald, senior fellow at the atlantic council global energy center. how important would it be if the saudi's did started selling barrels of oil, substantial numbers, to the chinese in a currency other than dollars? dr. wald: i do not think we are looking at a substantial number of barrels, that it is possible for them to sell to anyone. what are the saudi's going to do with yuan? aramco is the one selling the oil and they do business in dollars. they are not going to be able to pay their dividends, their taxes

to the saudi government in yuan. i don't think we are talking about a substantial amount. but it would not surprise me if they sell some amount in yuan. to keep their foot in the chinese market because there is the potential for china to shift to buying more oil from russia. they would have to use this yuan to pay for chinese contractors or projects in china, which they have, but it is not substantial enough for them to say accept all of their payments from china in yuan. >> i think the math would suggest that china buys 25% or more of the saudi exports. the oil market was also watching the latest long covid in china, to try to gauge the demand a story. i wonder how closely you are

watching any updates on covid restrictions were lockdowns depending on how things play out on that fund -- that front. dr. wald: this is a concern because if the lockdowns spread, it could impact chinese demand. the question is also, will it affect demand in other parts of asia? that could be a calculus. we did see oil drop a percent yesterday -- 8% yesterday. the other question is, we'll chinese concerns affect other countries? we are starting to see rumblings of this from the united states. i am not convinced that this will lead to any significant curving of ability, but it is something to be aware of and to keep in mind because it could affect chinese demand. matt: what are we looking at in

terms of sanctions right now? they had been batching up sanctions, especially in regards to russian oil. this is their main source of funding. annmarie: you have to separate the two when it comes to oil, we know what the united states is doing, banning russian oil imports. europe cannot do that. in india, looking to potentially by some russian crude because it was priced so cheap compared to where you are seeing brent. gas is a different topic because when to pick up oil, you have to send a tanker. gas is still flowing. nordstream one continues. you know how important russian natural gas is to europe. jon: staying with that subject

of energy flows, another factor we need to be watching is what happens with iran. what can you tell us on what people watch for with any developments there? dr. wald: there's definitely the potential for some movement. it did seem earlier that there was optimism that we might see a deal before now. i do think that the increase in oil prices has made it more difficult for iran to make concessions in these negotiations because they are making plenty of money off of high oil prices, they are selling petroleum, they are selling more oil than they sold during the trump administration. they are less willing to make concessions. the release of the british hostages was promising, but i am not convinced that that is

heralding a deal. until we have a deal, there is a substantial number of barrels that are kept off the market from iran. matt: how concerning is the warning from the u.s. intelligence agencies that putin could make a nuclear threat? ashley pilon sanctions and the worst he does -- as we pilon sanctions and the worst he doesn't ukraine and a harder hit 's economy is, the more dangerous he is. annmarie: it does feel when the actions on the ground, we should look at these actions. it signals that he is digging his heels and and he is not going to back down. this report from the defense intelligence agency talked about the fact that he is going to start brandishing the your weapons in that speech he gave

yesterday -- brandishing nuclear weapons in that speech he gave yesterday signals that he is frustrated. besides the fact that he wants to rid what he calls traders in his country, the fact that he said it is going to be hard, these economic penalties are going to be difficult for russians. but he has flirted with the idea of putting his nuclear arsenal on higher alert. it has already started. jon: thank you very much. for the latest on the energy story, coming up, still in the game, gamestop shares rebound after plummeting amid a surprise loss and mixed reactions to nft plans. this is bloomberg. ♪

matt: this is "bloomberg markets ." gamestop reported a surprise loss after thursday's close and was trading lower for most of the morning. that is not the case any longer. abigail doolittle is looking at the reversal.

this stock was decimated, reduced by a 10th, now it is backed up. what is going on? >> it is very volatile to say the least. it is now up 5%. relative to the quarter, it was mixed. they did meet sales estimates. sales data slow, but you should remember, omicron, this is a brick company, it depends on people being out. that could be one factor. the bigger thing, increase costs. the ceo on a long investor call talked about the fact that they leaned into me demand, that meant they had to spend. it seems they are getting the amazon effect. amazon will talk about how they are spending so much, yet the stock is going up. jon: the nft marketplace buzz that got people's attention, but

we are still waiting for more details in what is feeling like a crowded marketplace already. abigail: it is interesting, as i was preparing for this report and thinking about the stock phenomenon -- meme stock phenomenon, usually companies pay billions of dollars for marketing, but gamestop had been a mall store was front and center because of last year, it was up more than 725%. i don't know so much about nft's , i do not deal in them, but gamers might be interested in them. this could be another marketing piece. you have this gaming company developing this other plan that is seen as controversial. matt: i am down now with nft's. i get how they work and i think

it is a great way to package and sell some products. but i don't see what it has to do with a brick-and-mortar retailer. this is like if you had an app store that he had to go to 59th and lacks to access. abigail: i think that is the point, they probably need to reduce stores and figure out how to get more online. how do you do that with tonsils? pretty tough. this seems like one move to diversify. jon: helpful context. we do want to bring some breaking news headlines to go. these come from the intercontinentalexchange. what we are hearing from ice is we will see the removal of russian and belarusian debt from indices on march 31. the price at which securities will be removed is zero. that decision made in accordance

with recent consultations and published results announcements and additional feedback received from stakeholders. we will track those headlines. when we come back, how russia's invasion is affecting u.s. trade with canada. we will get some perspective from canada's acting consul general in new york. this is bloomberg. ♪

jon: this is "bloomberg markets ." canada is among the top trading partners with the u.s. and it is new york state's top customer. could benefit more as covid restrictions start to be lifted. let's get more perspective from canada's acting consul general in new york.

it is nice for a lot of people to start crossing the border again, given the nature of this important trading relationship. what is the buzz like on your end? mr. nasim: i'm delighted to be in person with you here today. the buzz is palpable. we have a great trading relationship with new york and canadians are excited to get back to business. one thing i want to stress is the pandemic was a testament to our relationship. despite the pandemic, despite the closures and restrictions, trade continued to flourish. we had 95% of our goods going back and forth. we made accommodations, we made exceptions, we had health care workers going back and forth. that was a testament to the nature of our relationship. it is one that we sometimes take for granted. matt: we have a wide shot here

so everyone can see that we are in the same studio together. you are by grand central normally. we are in new york together. where do you see the relationship in terms of trade? where do you see it recovering the fact that we are picking up the most since restrictions were lifted? mr. nasim: one of the areas we are looking at in terms of energy, we are excited about the fact that soon we are going to have the champlain hudson project which is going to deliver recyclable energy from quebec into new york city, it is going to provide 25% of the energy for new york city consumers. when you look at the evolution of our trade, we do a lot of automotive, a lot of resource economy, but the excitement is on the innovation and technology side. more canadian companies are coming into new york to get a foothold in the u.s. market.

jon: canadian banks have had a long presence on wall street. what role do they play in that business whether it is coming here or going there, canadian businesses trying to get a foothold in new york? mr. nasim: it is almost an untold secret because the pants -- the banks are all canadian and there are so many canadian banks that are present in new york with a massive footprint. the familiarity, the nature of the commerce allows for that to flow naturally between our countries. you mentioned that we are each other's largest trading partners. it is not a well-known secret. we are by far your number one trading partner. if you took the next two or three combined, it is not as much as it is with canada. matt: it is almost too obvious for people to know about it. same with bank of montreal.

we don't think about it much. in terms of the impact of russia's war in ukraine, one of the things that is going to change his you are going to buy fewer products from them, we are going to buy fewer products from russia. oftentimes, that it's going to be filled by buying things from each other. do you see that happening now? mr. nasim: i think it obviates the relationship, it makes it more imperative for us to be buying from stable, reliable, politically acceptable environments. we have been arguing that through the crisis of the pandemic and through the tragedy of ukraine, it emphasizes how important we are to one another. we are already your largest energy supplier. how do we get that number up? so you are buying from a secure supplier using stable infrastructure.

matt: great having you in the studio. we should do more with our canadian partners. we are always happy dealing there. canada's acting council general to new york here in the studio. we did not even mention maple syria or hockey -- maple syrup or hockey. jon: thank you for joining us. matt: happy friday. this is bloomberg. ♪

>> the u.s. is accusing russia

of using the united nations security council to potentially set up a red flag operation in ukraine. u.s. ambassador linda thomas-greenfield says there are feels right -- fears russia is planning to use chemical or biological weapons on the ukrainian people. >> last week we heard from a russian representative a bizarre conspiracy theory. this week we are hearing a lot more of where that came from. things that sound like they were forwarded to him on a cheney email from some dark corner -- from a chain email from some dark corner of the internet. >> the comments follow those of the russian ambassador who said that the u.s. is funding biological weapons labs in ukraine. he first made the allegations before the security council last friday in an emergency session.