Russia moves to restructure loan to Cyprus

MOSCOW A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin says the president has asked the government to restructure a 2.5 billion euro ($3.2 billion) loan to Cyprus.

Moscow has been worried about the crisis in Cyprus as Russian citizens hold as much as 20 billion euros ($26 billion) in Cypriot banks.

Russian news agencies on Monday quoted Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, as saying that the president has instructed the government to work out the terms for restructuring the loan which was made 2011.

Cyprus' finance minister spent most of the past week in Moscow, trying to reach a deal before talks failed on Friday.