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Abuse of US dollar status will adversely affect this currency, Lavrov says

The Russian foreign minister also said that sanctions are increasingly being used as an "unfair competition method"
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, April 19. / TASS/. The unreliability of the American currency is evident in the conditions that have emerged on world markets as a result of US actions, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday at the meeting with members of the International Council on Cooperation and Investments.

According to him, stability is important for business. "We are trying to pursue a constructive unifying foreign policy course, which is primarily aimed at providing the most favorable conditions for cooperation with foreign partners on a mutually beneficial basis," Lavrov said. "However, unilateral sanctions, which bypass the UN Security Council under a false pretext, hinder the process," he said.

As the minister noted, sanctions are increasingly being used under the pretext of "punishing the wrong political behavior of one country or another" and as an "unfair competition method," which leads to trade wars and extraterritorial application of national legislation. "We see here the direct abuse of the status of the US dollar, which in the long run will negatively affect this currency. Everyone understands its insecurity, at least in the conditions that are now formed on world markets as a result of the US position," Lavrov stressed.

"Losses are estimated in hundreds of billions of dollars, in particular, taking into account the losses suffered by companies and banks in France and Germany for cooperating with Iran, without violating either international rules [of trade] or their own legislation, but violating US law," Lavrov said. "The protection pay-out that Americans have made others pay for violating their laws are estimated at many billions. It is not just numbers. The main thing is that trust is undermined," he added.