Russian oligarchs, banks and corporations have been borrowing heavily from the West, underscoring the risks for both sides in escalating the Ukraine crisis.
According to Russia's central bank, total foreign debt stood at $732 billion at the end of 2013, up by nearly $200 billion over two years -- and $160 billion of that was new borrowing by Russian businesses and banks.
Just this week, mining giant Metalloinvest said it had arranged an export financing facility worth $1.15 billion with a group of banks including the three biggest names in France, Deutsche Bank (DB), UniCredit(UNCFF) of Italy, ING (IDG) of the Netherlands, as well as Credit Suisse (CS) and Japan's Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi.
Metalloinvest is controlled by Alisher Usmanov, who is reported to be Russia's richest man and close to Putin.
EU leaders will consider Thursday how to increase the pressure on Putin over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's southern region of Crimea. And they'll meet President Obama next week to continue those discussions.
The U.S. and Europe say Russia has violated Ukrainian sovereignty, and they've released a list of 28 officials, including some senior Russian politicians, who are now subject to travel
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