Russia says no IMF aid for Ukraine unless it pays its debt
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia says it won't support a much-needed International Monetary Fund aid package for Ukraine unless it stipulates a debt repayment to Russia.
Ukraine says it will not return $3 billion to Russia that a previous government borrowed in 2013 because Moscow refuses to agree to terms already accepted by other international creditors. Russia insists this was a sovereign debt that should not be covered by terms offered to commercial lenders.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told state-owned television Tuesday that Moscow would insist that the $3 billion debt repayment be stipulated in the new aid package for Ukraine - or Russia will veto it.
Ukraine's crumbling economy, which was also weighed on by a separatist war in the east, relies on a $17.5-billion bailout from the IMF.
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