Russian Debts News Today

The US seized Afghanistan's central bank reserves and could do it again with Russia, according to the consultancy Oxford Economics.

Russia has tried to pay its dollar debts in rubles, but bondholders told Insider that's not a viable option.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov argued Russia has not defaulted on its debts, but said it would nonetheless halt bond sales.

The risk of a default has skyrocketed, judging by the price of credit-default swaps on Russian bonds.

The risk of a Russian debt default rose after the US Treasury blocked JPMorgan from processing the government's dollar bond payments.

Timothy Ash said US bondholders would likely be hurt by the Treasury's move, but said it's "their own fault" for investing in Russian bonds.

Some investors have been attracted to Russian debt by extremely low prices and by signs of progress in Ukraine peace talks.

Buying back dollar-denominated bonds in rubles would also ensure that local investors are paid in full, analysts said.

The Russian government has a few tricky tests coming up, with a $2 billion bond maturing in early April.

Russia has so far defied the expectations of many investors and kept up its payments on its foreign debt, despite tough sanctions.