Then, with days remaining, Russia tapped its domestic dollar holdings and announced on Friday that it had transferred the cash to its foreign paying agent. That fits with the goals of the U.S. Treasury, which is allowing the transfer because it forces Russia to fork over local reserves that might otherwise have been used to fund the war effort.

Nothing in that statement is out of the ordinary. Large transactions like this are always performed last minutes, as to keep making interest on the holdings. At this point the only thing that could stop the payment is a refusal to receive it on the lenders end.