The escalation of the Ukraine crisis causes the oil price to rise further.
Brent oil from the North Sea rose 2 percent on Tuesday morning to $97.35 a barrel (159 liters).
At its peak, the price briefly rose to $97.66 per barrel, its highest level since September 2014. The price for the US variety WTI rose almost 4 percent to $94.47.
The Russian ruble fell to its lowest level in more than 15 months in forex trading on Tuesday.
In turn, the dollar rises to as much as 80.58 rubles.
In the course of trading, the Russian national currency is curbing its losses again.
"With the recognition by Russian President Vladimir Putin of the two people's republics that have defected from Ukraine and with his announcement that he will send regular Russian troops there, the Russian ruler has chosen the lowest level of escalation that was possible," says Commerzbank analyst Ulrich Leuchtmann.
The intensification of the Ukraine conflict sends the stock markets in Asia plummeting.
According to Carlos Casanova, senior Asia economist at UBP, military intervention is now much closer, which will significantly worsen market sentiment.
Short-term volatility in markets is "relentless" from both geopolitical factors and the US Federal Reserve.
The consequences are higher oil prices, a sell-off in shares and a flight to safe investments.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei Index, which comprises 225 values, was 2.1 percent lower at 26,351 points.
The broader Topix index fell 1.7 percent to 1877 points.
The Shanghai stock exchange was down 1.4 percent.
According to calculations by banks and brokerage houses, the Dax will start lower again on Tuesday.
At the start of the week, the leading German index had already fallen by 2.1 percent to 14,731 points on Monday, the lowest closing price in around eleven months.
"The political situation is more risky than it has been for a long time," said Thomas Altmann, portfolio manager at asset manager QC Partners.