Russia Faces it’s First Foreign Debt Payment Since 1918

On Sunday night, Russia entered its first foreign debt payment failure since 1918. According to CNBC, on Sunday night, the grace period “on two international bond payments lapsed”.

CNBC reported that the interest payments totaled $100 million, and were due May 27th. The payments were subject to a grace period, but Russia failed to make these payments before the period ended. The Kremlin has reportedly “rejected the claim that Russia is in default, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reportedly telling a press call this morning that Russia made the bond payments due in May but they have been blocked by Euroclear due to Western sanctions”. Russia claimed that the failure to deliver the payments was “not Russia’s fault”. Again, this is Russia’s first “forgein debt default since 1918”. Many believe this exemplifies Putin’s Russia “decay and decline” during the war over seas.