Free Republic

Russia's attempt to pay for two of its dollar bonds using rubles was deemed a potential default scenario by a derivatives industry watchdog on Wednesday, bringing the country to the brink of its first default in a century. The Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee — a panel within the The International Swap and Derivatives Association — ruled that a "potential failure to pay" event had occurred, Reuters first reported. It is still possible for Russia to avoid a default if it manages to pay bondholders using dollars before a one-month grace period ends on May 4. Russia has become increasingly cut...

Germany has said it will halt imports of Russian oil by the end of this year. "We will halve oil by the summer and will be at zero by the end of the year, and then gas will follow," said German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock. Germany currently buys a quarter of its oil and 40% of its gas from Russia... About 60% of Russia's oil exports go to Europe, and another 20% go to China.

The US and its allies have slapped a grand total of over 9,600 sanctions against Russian officials, the state, companies, tycoons and other entities in connection with the crisis in Ukraine. Moscow now has more restrictions against it than Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and Myanmar combined. Russia has successfully withstood unprecedented sanctions pressure from the West, President Vladimir Putin has said. "The calculation was to quickly undermine the financial and economic situation in our country, to provoke panic in the markets, the collapse of the banking system, and a large-scale shortage of goods in stores," Putin said, speaking at...