Moscow Says Dollar Has Become Toxic, Is Exploring Its Options

Aug. 21, 2022 (EIRNS)—Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin told TASS yesterday that Russia is ready to toughen its response, should Western sanctions intensify further. “We reserve the right to toughen our special measures if the pressure of sanctions intensifies,” the Russian diplomat warned. “We are ready for any scenario, even though we have been seeking to avoid the path of confrontation.” (The complete interview is currently posted in Russian to the ministry website. (in Russian))

Pankin specified: “We have been focusing on de-dollarization efforts, import substitution and work to strengthen our technological independence... Against the growing geopolitical pressure from the ‘collective West,’ the only way to guarantee stable trade, economic, and investment ties between Russia and its partners is to avoid the use of currencies that have become ‘toxic,’ primarily the U.S. dollar and the euro, and switch to settlements in acceptable alternatives, primarily in national currencies,”

Pankin said.

Russia has been forced to act, he stated, because the current global financial system is “unsuitable for the conditions of a multipolar world order and has essentially become an instrument for achieving political goals of one group of countries.” He added: “The West does not hesitate to declare its so-called ‘sanctions’ as an instrument for changing our sovereign foreign policy course while seeking to rock the internal political situation, inflict economic damage, destabilize politics, hurt the living standards and rights of our citizens and disrupt business,” Pankin said. He described this situation as “an economic war without rules.”

“It is quite obvious that in the current conditions the West intends to continue to abuse its privileged position,” Pankin continued. “It is encouraging to see that many nations, seeing extraordinary and illegitimate sanctions against Russia, are thinking about the need to de-dollarize foreign economic activity to ensure their sovereignty. As it turned out, if there is political will, the issue is quite solvable.”