LONDON, May 26 (AFP) - Russia has asked its long-suffering international creditors to waive an interest payment which falls due imminently, in the latest technical default on its 140-billion-dollar foreign debt. In a statement obtained by AFP on Wednesday, the London Club of creditors holding Soviet-era debt said that Russian officials had asked for sums due next Wednesday to be rolled over for six months. Russia is due on June 2 to repay some 216 million dollars (203.7 million euros) in interest on more than 20 billion dollars which it owes to the London Club. The debt represents former Soviet liabilities which have already been restructured once. The statement was issued following talks between London Club representatives and a Russian delegation headed by newly-appointed Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. "The Russian delegation stated that the June 2 rollover will be followed a soon as possible by vigorous efforts to find a solution that takes account of both the interests of creditors and Russia's difficult economic conditions," the statement said. The London Club did not say whether it had agreed to the rollover, but has in the past been forced to accept Russian declarations of its inability to pay as a fait accompli. The statement did not refer to another repayment due later in June of debt principal. Russia started skipping payments on Soviet-era foreign debt, which comprises two-thirds of its total foreign debt burden, after public finances collapsed last August. Kasyanov admitted in January that Moscow was in arrears on its payments to the tune of 1.5 billion dollars, part of which was a skipped interest payment to the London Club due last December. Since then Russia has defaulted on a further 1.3 billion dollars of domestic, dollar-denominated debt. Analysts have warned that the Soviet-era paper held by creditors is a sitting target for outright, across-the-board default until such time as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agrees a new programme and new financial assistance for Russia which would pave the way for a wide-ranging foreign debt restructuring package. The ratings agency Fitch IBCA said on Monday that Moscow would not repay any interest to the London Club, as this would unfairly favour those creditors above other frustrated holders of different classes of Russian debt. Analysts have said they expect further default on Soviet-era debt, while holding out cautious optimism that post-Soviet obligations such as Russian eurobonds will remain sacrosanct. The market of traded Russian debt in London has already largely discounted a continuing default scenario on Soviet-era obligations, as repayments do not figure in an already-tight 1999 budget.  