Russia has defaulted on its foreign currency debt for the first time in more than a century, as harsh Western sanctions designed to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine restrict its ability to pay foreign creditors.
The country has the cash, but cannot send it to creditors because sanctions have cut Russia off from international payment systems. The deadline for a $ 100 million interest payment expired Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin had proposed paying creditors in rubles, which could later be converted into dollars, after the U.S. Treasury Department closed a loophole that had allowed the Kremlin to make debt payments to northern bondholders. -Americans through American banks.