MOSCOW, June 28. /TASS/. Moody's stated on Monday that Russia defaulted on Eurobonds while it also became known that Ukraine rejected negotiations with Russia until Kiev is able to hold them from "strong positions."
TASS gathered information on main events in Ukraine and around it for the day.
Military operation in Ukraine
The Russian Aerospace Forces delivered strikes by four precision missiles to obliterate workshops of the Artyom rocket-building corporation in Kiev, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. The agency reported that all the missiles reached their targets while two air defense missiles intercepting them were shot down by Ukraine’s air defense and one of them "presumably, <…> fell on a residential building."
Additionally, the ministry reported that Russian units eliminated 14 foreign mercenaries near Lisichansk some of whom "were involved in the brutal torture and murder of Russian servicemen near Kiev in March this year."
Lisichansk is the last large city in the LPR still controlled by Ukraine and it may be completely liberated by the end of the week, Vitaly Kiselev, an aide to the LPR interior minister, told TASS.
The office of the DPR’s Prosecutor General reported that bodies of 172 Ukrainian soldiers had been found on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. The agency also published names of 52 people found in a mass burial in one of city’s parks.
Russia’s "default"
Moody's said that Russia had defaulted on its foreign debt obligations since holders of Russia's sovereign debt had not received coupon payments on two Eurobonds by the time the 30-calendar-day grace period expired. Earlier, Bloomberg noted that this was Russia’s first default on its foreign debt since 1918.
Meanwhile, this concerns May payments which Russia had made ahead of time, before the US license lapsed which had allowed Russia to service its foreign debt. Russia’s Finance Ministry noted that in this case the payments were not received due to actions by third parties.
In June, Russia for the first time used a new mechanism to pay its Eurobond coupon in rubles since Western sanctions prevent it from servicing the foreign debt by other means. Moody’s stated that it would view such payments as a default. Russian authorities repeatedly stressed their readiness to fulfill their debt obligations and the availability of funds to do so.
Remarks by Ukrainian president
Ukraine won’t negotiate with Russia until it finds itself in "strong positions," Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told G7 leaders via a video link on Monday. He also said that he wouldn’t want for combat to drag out until winter and urged to introduce new sanctions against Moscow and supply more arms to Kiev.
In particular, he proposed to G7 to join work on developing security guarantees for Ukraine and participate in its restoration following the end of military actions as well as urged to radically restrict prices for Russian oil at global markets and create an effective mechanism to confiscate Russian frozen or arrested assets.
On the same day, the Ukrainian leader asserted that he was ready to respond to a hypothetical threat on the part of Transnistria at a joint press conference with his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu who was in Kiev on an unannounced visit.
US, NATO actions
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization plans to beef up its battlegroups on the alliance’s eastern flank and boost its high readiness forces to over 300,000 from the current 40,000, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday in the run-up to the alliance’s summit in Madrid. According to him, Brussels is also planning to bolster its battlegroups on eastern borders.
The US announced new sanctions against Russia which will involve, among others, defense companies and research organizations, as well as "dozens of other defense-related entities and individuals." Additionally, Washington plans to impose visa restrictions on about 500 Russian officials, introduce higher tariffs on more than 570 groups of goods from Russia as well as approve restrictions that will affect officials on Ukraine’s liberated territories.
According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Washington will supply modern medium-and long-range air defense systems to Ukraine which Zelensky asked for earlier.
G7 statements
G7 member states are ready to expand their cooperation with Ukraine on intelligence, maritime security and information sharing, the group said in its statement published Monday.
Additionally, the Group of Seven stated that it will earmark about $29.5 bln in budget support for Kiev. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko noted that the country spends $5 bln monthly on the conflict with Russia and the Western support is insufficient to cover all the expenses.
The G7 countries also vowed to seek new ways to isolate Russia from global markets and decrease its income. Kyodo reported, citing a US official, that the group is close to a decision to call for restrictions on prices for Russian oil but it has not yet been officially announced.