In a statement released after two days of talks in Frankfurt, the two sides also said they had agreed to set up a trust fund into which Russia would pay $500 million by end of March next year.
That payment covers interest on Russian debt which should have been paid in 1992 and 1993 and will be paid out to eligible creditors on completion of an overall debt accord.
A framework debt rescheduling accord has been in place since the summer of 1993, allowing Russia a grace period of five years during which it has to pay no interest or capital. Moscow would then have a further 10 years to pay off the debt in semiannual installments.
But a final accord was blocked until October this year by legal wrangling over Russia's "sovereign immunity."
At a meeting on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund annual meeting in Madrid, it was agreed that Russia did not have to waive its immunity. That means that banks will not have access to Russian funds in the case of a default.
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