Ukraine debt envoy ratchets up payment suspension warning

A labourer works at a coke plant in the town of Avdiyivka near Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, June 23, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Ukraine could suspend its debt payments almost immediately if an important meeting with creditors on Tuesday ends in stalemate, the country's chief debt envoy Vitaly Lisovenko said.

Ravaged by conflict and on International Monetary Fund life support, Ukraine is asking its foreign bondholders to accept a 40 percent writedown or "haircut" on the $23 billion of debt they own, but so far they have not agreed.