Ukraine won't repay Russian debt due by weekend - Premier

Yatsenyuk announced at a televised government session December 18 a "moratorium" on any debt repayments to Russia. He did not indicate when Ukraine would be ready to repay the debt. Radio Liberty reports this effectively means that Ukraine is defaulting on the debt. Moscow has previously said it will take Ukraine to court if it failed to pay on time. The Eurobond matures on December 20, but Ukraine has a 10-day grace period before it will be considered officially to be in default. Yatseniuk also said Ukraine would cancel payments on 507 million dollars of Ukrainian commercial debt held by Russian banks.