MOSCOW: The Russian rouble firmed slightly on Thursday, remaining weaker than in late 2021, and stock indexes fell as downside pressure lingered over geopolitical concerns about Moscow's standoff with the West.

At 0729 GMT, the rouble was 0.2% stronger against the dollar at 74.60, heading towards levels of around 74 seen in late December.

Versus the euro, the rouble added 0.1% to 85.41.

Russian rouble eases from over 1-week high; traders focus on geopolitics, inflation

The rouble has been under pressure since October, as Western countries expressed concerns about Russia's military build-up near Ukraine. Moscow has said it can move its army within its territory as it deems necessary.

On Wednesday, NATO said it was willing to talk to Russia about arms control and missile deployments to avert the risk of war in Europe, but Moscow said the situation was "very dangerous" and the way forward was unclear.

The Russian finance ministry also added pressure on the rouble by increasing state purchases of foreign currency for the state coffers in the month ahead.

The finance ministry's increased FX purchases will limit the room for the rouble recovery, and the Russian currency is expected to firm only to 74 against the dollar by the end of the month, Sinara Investment Bank said in a note.

The rouble is expected to stay within a range of 74.5-75.0 against the dollar on Thursday, Promsvyazbank analysts said.Russian stock indexes were down, mirroring a 0.5% decline in Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, to $84.26 a barrel.

The dollar-denominated RTS index shed 0.3% to 1,607.7 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.7% lower at 3,804.9 points.