US to end Russia’s ability to pay international investors

By KEN SWEET and FATIMA HUSSEIN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will close the last avenue for Russia to pay back its billions in debt to international investors on Wednesday, making a Russian default on its debts for the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution all but inevitable. The Treasury Department said in a notification Tuesday that it does not plan to renew the license to allow Russia to keep paying its debtholders through American banks. That window closes at midnight Wednesday. Without a legal avenue to pay its debtholders, Russia will certainly default on its bonds this summer.