Here's a new item from our news desk:
Russia Open To Out-Of-Court Settlement In Ukraine Debt Case
Russia's finance minister is planning to meet next month with his Ukrainian counterpart for talks on Kyiv's multi-billion-dollar bond default.
Talks mediated by Germany are being planned during International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in Washington in early October, Anton Siluanov said on September 12, adding that he is open to an out-of-court settlement.
It would be the first meeting between Siluanov and Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danylyuk, who was appointed to the post earlier this year.
In February, the Russian government filed a lawsuit at the High Court in London seeking to recover the $3 billion debt, which Ukraine failed to repay when it came due in December 2015.
Hearings are expected to start in early 2017.
Moscow claims it should be granted better restructuring terms than those accepted by Ukraine’s private creditors in a $15 billion debt overhaul last year, while Kyiv insists it cannot offer Russia a better deal than other creditors.
"If Ukraine continues to make the same demands as in previous meetings, the negotiations will be completely unconstructive," Siluanov said.
Based on reporting by TASS and Bloomberg
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to expand):
