Creditors must stand up to Putin

It must be good to be Vladimir Putin, president of Russia. When your country is broke, you can demand money from the Western nations and the International Monetary Fund. And when your country isn't broke, you can threaten to refuse paying your debts because now you don't need their financial aid. That is precisely Putin's strategy for dealing with the Paris Club, a group of sovereign creditors to whom Russia owes $48bn. Most of this money comes from debts incurred under the old Soviet Union. Forty percent of the total is owed to Germany. Recently, Russia threatened to withhold its payment ...