Russia stokes fears of first foreign currency default in more than a century as it attempts payment

Russia stokes fears of first foreign currency default in more than a century as it attempts payment

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Wednesday it is up to the U.S. to decide whether crucial interest payments on two dollar-denominated eurobonds go through, ratcheting up fears of Moscow's in over a century. "The possibility or impossibility of fulfilling our obligations in foreign currency does not depend on us, we have the money, we paid the payment, now the ball is on the side, first of all, of the American authorities," Siluanov said in an interview with RT Arabic, "The Russian Federation has the necessary money in foreign currency accounts, it is possible to pay in ruble settlements." Siluanov claimed Russia had the necessary funds to fulfill its obligations and pay $117 million in interest on two sovereign eurobonds due on Wednesday. However, he said the U.S. should first clarify whether the settlements are possible from Russian foreign currency accounts. CNBC has contacted the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which administers sanctions, for comment. It was not immediately available to respond. The U.S. and international allies have imposed an unprecedented barrage of punitive economic sanctions against Russia in response to the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine. The penalties have sought to cut off Moscow from the global