March 1 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

Liz Truss has warned that banning a Kremlin-backed television station from British screens could have repercussions for the BBC as Ofcom announced an urgent investigation into the Russian channel. https://bit.ly/3M9iKJM

Fifa has finally given in to the pressure to ban Russia from the World Cup and announced that all Russian teams will be excluded from international competition. https://bit.ly/3hoFNlN

The Guardian

Britain and New Zealand have signed a free trade deal, which the UK government said would boost bilateral trade by 60% by eliminating tariffs, cutting red tape and enabling freer movement of professional workers. https://bit.ly/3hvOvOQ

Russian vessels will be banned from British ports, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said on Monday, in an effort to ensure the Kremlin is not funding its war effort in Ukraine with sales of oil and gas in the UK. https://bit.ly/35BHFF9

The Telegraph

Britain will allow 100,000 extra Ukrainians with immediate family in the UK to come to the country in the wake of the Russian invasion. https://bit.ly/3vvOgM3

The British Army will on Tuesday warn soldiers not to travel to Ukraine to take up arms as it risks triggering a major escalation in the conflict. https://bit.ly/341aiuX

Sky News

Sky News has learnt that Abrdn, the FTSE-100 asset manager, is keen to offload its multimillion-pound stake in Rosneft but has been prevented from doing so. https://bit.ly/3thfdR5

Oil titan Shell has announced that it will exit all of its joint ventures with Gazprom, an energy company controlled by the Russian state, following BP's decision to pull out of the country yesterday. https://bit.ly/3vpiLDt

The Independent

A tanker heading to the U.S. carrying an estimated 400,000 barrels of Russian crude oil reversed its course earlier this month, and docked in Britain on Sunday. https://bit.ly/35BOVAA

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)