According to the US Treasury Secretary, the US would likely terminate an exception that allows Moscow to pay its international debts using dollars kept in the country, putting Vladimir Putin’s country at risk of default.

“When we first imposed sanctions on Russia, we created an exemption that would allow a period of time for an orderly transition to take place and for investors to be able to sell securities,” said Janet Yellen.

“And the expectation was, that it was time limited. So I think it’s reasonably likely that the license will be allowed to expire.”

“We want to make sure that we understand what the potential consequences and spillovers would be of allowing the licence to expire. And we have not yet made a decision,” Ms Yellen told the Senate Committee on Banking.