Russian state-controlled “defense bank” Promsvyazbank has announced the launch of a service of cross-border settlements for international trade contracts with any country, the Vedomosti and Kommersant business dailies reported. As followed closely by bne IntelliNews, manyChinese and Turkish banks have cut ties with their Russian counterparts since the so-called strangulation sanctions introduced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in December. Nearly one in four Russian exporting companies experience difficulties with foreign settlements and the government is experimenting with sett…