Russia’s President Vladimir Putin assigned the Finance Ministry to negotiate Kyiv’s debt settlement with Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund. The Kremlin suggested that the IMF should provide Ukraine with financial aid worth $3 billion to repay the debt. Vladimir Putin noted that Russia can exercise its right to claim the debt settlement before the deadline. However, it has never been done as it might worsen the economic malaise in Ukraine.
“Why does not the IMF want to allocate these $3 billion to Ukraine so that it will be able to repay its debt to Russia? This measure would be more sensible than changing the Fund’s rules in favor of a particular country, thus destroying the IMF fundamentals,” the Russian president said at a regular Cabinet briefing.
Russia’s Finance Minister Anton Siluanov met with his Ukrainian counterpart last week. Mr. Siluanov confirmed the Kremlin’s stance that Ukraine’s debt cannot be considered to be commercial. He mentioned that Russia’s Finance Ministry is making a draft in case Ukraine declares a default on its debts.
The Russian policymaker highlighted that Ukraine’s debt is a sovereign one to another government. So debt relief is out of the question. Meanwhile, Moscow is awaiting the full repayment scheduled for December.
