Russia sanctions risk putting $105bn out of foreign banks’ reach

But international claims on the country have fallen by half since 2014

The financial market ostracization of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine risks making it near-impossible for foreign banks to claw back $105 billion of claims on Russian counterparties.

But lenders in most Western jurisdictions had already been slashing exposures to the country in the aftermath of Moscow’s forcible annexation of Crimea in 2014, when the US and allies first imposed all-sweeping sanctions, Bank for International Settlements data shows.

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Between March of that year and