U.S. Plans To Block Russia's Ability To Pay U.S. Bondholders

US President Joe Biden’s administration is planning to completely block Russia’s ability to pay U.S. bondholders, which could bring Russia closer to “the brink of default," Bloomberg reported.

Photo Insert: Signage of the Central Bank of Russia

The finance ministers of the G7 are also planning to put together a 15 billion euro aid package for Ukraine, Reuters reported citing an anonymous senior German official. The German newspaper Der Spiegel earlier said that G7 may initiate budget support worth almost 30 billion euros for Ukraine.

On May 17, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a decision to get a “soft loan” of up to 150 million euros from German state bank KfW.

“We will immediately use these funds to finance key social expenditures and key aspects of our country’s reconstruction,” Prime MInister Denys Shmyhal said.

Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway, is also transporting huge volumes of Ukrainian agricultural products to ports on the North and Adriatic Seas, German Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing said, as reported by Der Spiegel.

Two to three trains per day have already begun transporting Ukrainian grain to Western Europe through Poland.

The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung has obtained a draft of the European Commission’s reconstruction plan for Ukraine. Money from member states and international partners would be allocated under “strict conditions, such as fighting corruption and reform efforts by the Ukrainian government,” according to the plan.

The plan also said the reconstruction of Ukraine’s war-torn infrastructure may take more than 10 years. Damage caused by the war on Ukraine is estimated at hundreds of billions of euros, Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.

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