Russia Wipes Out Debt to United States

Here’s an interesting piece of news that a reporter friend has pointed me towards: Sergei Storchak has announced the early repayment of an old agricultural loan of $343.25 million to the United States, which was made during the Federation’s darkest days of the economic crisis. Speaking to reporters in Washington, my source tells me that Storchak explained the move as such: “From the viewpoint of financial efficiency, it was not particularly economical [to return the loan early], but it is unpleasant to have a loan in our debt portfolio that was obtained at a time when the country was at its lowest point.” Translation: we are willing to throw away several million dollars of public money to wipe an “embarrassing” loan off the books, just to prove a point politically. Understandably, Russia is really not in any mood lately to owe anything to the Americans.