US to end Russia’s ability to pay international investors

US treasury secretary Janet Yellen (Saul Loeb/Pool photo via AP)

The US will close the last avenue for Russia to pay its billions in debt back 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 that it does not plan to renew the licence to allow Russia to keep paying its debtholders through American banks.