The Russian government denies that it has defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in more than a century.

In a phone call with reporters on Monday, Presidential Office spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had made the bond payments due in May.

The fact that they were blocked by the clearing house Euroclear because of Western sanctions against Russia is "not our problem".

After the payment and grace period expired on Sunday evening, several Taiwanese investors complained that they had not yet received the agreed interest payments on their Russian government bonds, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

According to earlier information from lawyers, however, it is unclear whether the deadline for the government in Moscow ended on Sunday or only at the end of the first working day thereafter.