In response to the S&P‘s lowering of Russian foreign debt rating to “SD” (selective default), Finance Minister Anton Siluanov tells pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia that the government is preparing to sue in order to force the investors to accept their payments.

In a move that analysts believe reflects the dire predicament of international sanctions against Russia, the government looks set to introduce stringent methods to protect its economy. It is not yet clear how far this potential threat has come along. it also remains to see how effective it could be should litigation be contested by international courts sympathetic to Ukraine’s defense, and therefore supportive of punitive financial sanctions against Russian interests.