What is the impact of Russia missing its debt repayments?

Moscow claims it has fulfilled its obligations – and it is not Russia’s problem if sanctions mean payment cannot be delivered, writes Ben Chapman

Sanctions have cut the Kremlin off from much of the global financial system (AP)

Russia is said to have defaulted on its international bonds for the first time in more than a century – after sanctions cut the Kremlin off from much of the global financial system.

The country has tens of billions of dollars of oil and gas revenues thanks to a surge in prices since the invasion of Ukraine in February. However, using that money to pay obligations outside of Russia has been made difficult by curbs on financial flows brought in by Western nations.

Some holders of Russian debt (bonds) reported not receiving scheduled interest payments on Monday after a deadline on Sunday. That puts Russia in default on its international bonds for the first time since the Russian Revolution of 1918. In 1998, Russia defaulted on domestic, rouble-denominated bonds