Jim Armitage: Russian sanctions could be eased in 2016 after Putin's action

Vladimir Putin is coming in from the cold.

Not only was his the leading voice at the G20 summit, thanks to his newly popular bombing campaign in Syria, but, quietly and largely unreported, he has just relaxed the pressure of his financial boot on Ukraine’s jugular.

Since the toppling of his kleptocratic ally Viktor Yanukovych, Putin has been insisting Kiev’s new government repay in full a $3 billion (£2 billion) loan Russia gave the old regime.

The debt comes due next month.

But Kiev has declared it can’t and won’t pay, saying Moscow must take the same 20% haircut private-sector lenders just accepted.

Yesterday, after months refusing to bend, Putin finally relented, declaring Kiev could spread the repayments over three years, and waive any instalment this year.

The IMF applauded him instantly, and I’m sure Angela Merkel, said to have been urging him to compromise, will have raised a stein in his direction.

It’s probably not enough to get sanctions on Russia lifted when they’re reviewed in the New Year. His annexation of Crimea remains too big an obstacle.

But don’t be surprised if, following a UN-monitored referendum there, they’re eased in 2016.

Thanks to his mixture of bombs, money and diplomacy, east and west are coming closer together again.