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Russia accelerating efforts to dump dollar, warns senior diplomat

Sergei Ryabkov stressed that Moscow should not leave US sanctions unanswered

© Sergei Konkov/TASS

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Russia to give tit-for-tat response to US sanctions, senior diplomat says

MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Moscow will definitely respond to Washington’s latest sanctions and in particular, it will step up efforts to abandon the dollar in trade operations, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with International Affairs magazine. Extracts from the interview were available on the publication’s website on Thursday.

"The time has come when we need to go from words to actions, and get rid of the dollar as a means of mutual settlements, and look for other alternatives," Ryabkov said. "Thank God, this is happening, and we will speed up this work," he emphasized.

"Besides that we must take retaliatory measures. Considering the logic and mentality that exist we should not leave their sanctions unanswered," he stressed.

The lack of a direct answer to the challenge is only seen as a sign of weakness there and for the hotheads in Washington it is another reason to crank up pressure," the diplomat noted.

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