Russian President Vladimir Putin softened demands for immediate payment by Ukraine of a $3 billion bond, for the first time agreeing to a restructuring of the debt.
Advertisement
“No, Ukraine has received nothing yet”, she told reporters in a short commentary in Kyiv on Wednesday and then avoided further questions.
“We haven’t just agreed to restructure the Ukrainian debt, we have offered better conditions than the worldwide Monetary Fund was asking of us”, Putin said, the TASS news agency reported Monday.
It may also help warm ties with the West that have plunged to lows unseen since the Cold War over Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
He said: “We are ready not to receive any money this year”.
The Russian authorities have chose to introduce food embargo against Ukraine, Russia’s Minister for Economic Development Aleksey Ulyukaev said.
“I pointed out that although Canada has shifted its approach on a broad range of multilateral and worldwide issues, we remain committed to the fact that Russia’s interference in Ukraine must cease; that we stand with the Ukrainian people and expect the president to engage fully in the Minsk peace process”, he said.
Russian Federation proposed letting Ukraine pay back $1 billion annually from 2016 to 2018 and asked for guarantees from the US, the European Union or a large bank, according to Siluanov.
Advertisement
In August, a creditor group reached a $15 billion restructuring agreement with Kyiv that included a 20 percent principal writedown and a four-year maturity extension.
