Therefore if Russia defaults, it is not a technical default.

Since it's the creditor side that's been working to block the available accounts in currencies accepted for payment - yes, yes it is.

Therefore if Russia defaults, it is not a technical default.

Since it's the creditor side that's been working to block the currencies accepted for payment - yes, yes it is.

All that stupid sanctions, really, do much more harm to the West, than to Russia. And that is obviously intentional.

Pretty much. The question is - to what end? Sure enough, Russia is already increasing raw resource trade with China and India, though I'm not sure what's the situation with consumer goods. I wouldn't be surprised if Chinese manufacturers of ostensibly western brands, have simply ignored the ban on exports to Russian outlets. Overall, I'm not expecting a major shakeup on Russian markets.

In the west, however, there's already talk of goods shortages, from wheat to sunflower oil. I suspect this precipitates a planned restructuring of the economy - an expansion of mining and farming jobs, in order to achieve at least some self-sufficiency for the EU and certain NATO countries. After all, oligarchs like Bill Gates have been buying up farmland like there's no tomorrow, and they tend to be pretty good bellwethers in that regard. And wouldn't you know it - the past decade saw an influx of unskilled migrants, good for just this sort of thing. Amazing coincidence, I know.

Altogether, this whole conflict seems to function like a not-quite-amicable economic divorce - an unsurprising, likely even necessary measure after the financial crisis that marked the past decade.