As a result of sanctions, Two of Russia’s debt payments, it was recognized, had not been received by the creditors. However, the country disputed that this amounted to a debt default. The Russian finance ministry claimed in a statement that although the payments had “received monies in full in advance,” “the activities of third parties” had stopped them from reaching the intended recipients.
In response to allegations of the supposed default, the Kremlin also asserted that there were “no grounds” to assert that Moscow had defaulted on its foreign-currency sovereign debt. This occurs while the West continues to punish Russia with sanctions for its actions in Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters after a crucial payment deadline passed that “there are no grounds to label this scenario a default.”
He said that Russia settled the loan in May and referred to the “claims of default” as being completely false.
According to a report by Bloomberg News that was released earlier on Monday, Russia ‘defaulted’ on about $100 million in interest payments that were due on Sunday for the first time in more than a century.
Financial Minister Anton Siluanov has even referred to the entire situation as a “farce,” according to Russian authorities, who allege that the West is aiming to force Moscow into a fictitious default.
Punitive Western sanctions have largely blocked off Moscow from the global banking system, making it difficult for Moscow to pay its debts.
When Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Bolshevik revolution, refused to accept the obligations of the ousted tsar’s administration in 1918, Russia last fell behind on a loan in a foreign currency.
