Lavrov listed the reasons for switching to national currencies in settlements with partners

For decades, it has been repeatedly proposed in the world to use other means of mutual settlements other than the American dollar. However, the United States is still abusing the position of its currency, using it as a weapon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on October 15, explaining the reasons for switching to national currencies in settlements with partners.

"But the Americans said that the dollar was not their property, but a common good, a global asset, a lubricant for the entire global economy. They say, everything is "spinning", "spinning", everything is fine. Then sanctions began (including after the referendum in Crimea), which, in particular, involved the use of the dollar as a weapon," Lavrov recalled in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.

The minister recalled that during his election campaign, US President Donald Trump specifically emphasized the disastrous role played by the previous Joe Biden administration, abusing the dollar's position as a reserve currency.

"The meaning of what Donald Trump said was that a time bomb has been laid under the foundation of US power, under the currency that provides Americans with decisive positions in world markets," the Russian Foreign Minister said.

The minister pointed out that now, having already been in the White House, Trump has not yet taken steps to restore confidence in the dollar. The processes of "moving away" from the dollar continue in BRICS, the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) and CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States). Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is actively advocating the creation of alternative payment platforms, Lavrov said. He also recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said many times that Russia has not moved away from the dollar. The country has restricted its use, so Moscow is forced to trade with its partners, servicing this trade in national currencies. They will also be digital soon.

"Multipolarity will not happen overnight. It's only in France that a rooster crowed, and everything comes at once at their will. This is a truly long era, as the colonial era was before that, as the era of decolonization was. Given the profound interdependence of the global economy, which developed especially after the collapse of the USSR, when it seemed to everyone that the mechanisms were fine—tuned, the tools were there, everyone accepted the principles of globalization, and now it's the end of history and so on," the Foreign Minister said.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, there is no fair competition now. Currently, tariff wars are being waged even regardless of sanctions, and the principles of globalization are easily sacrificed if a competitor needs to be removed.

"That's what they did to us, to Iran and other countries, whose gold and foreign exchange reserves were seized and then became the subject of blackmail and pressure. The inviolability of property was simply swept away overnight as an inviolable principle (forgive the tautology)," he said.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Dushanbe on October 10 that almost all mutual settlements between the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are carried out in national currencies. He also added that their share in commercial operations amounted to 96% in the first half of 2025. This does not mean abandoning the use of other currencies, but the transition to national currencies helps to increase the independence and sovereignty of countries, Putin said.

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