MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Through its sanctions policy, the United States is single-handedly subverting confidence in the dollar as the global reserve currency, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, speaking at a plenary session at the Moscow-hosted Russian Energy Week.
"It seems to me that our American partners are making an enormous strategic mistake, they are undermining confidence in the dollar as a universal, and in fact the sole reserve currency today, subverting faith in it as a universal tool. They are indeed sawing off the branch they are sitting on. So this is strange and even surprising," Putin said, commenting on the attempts by other countries to circumvent US sanctions against Iran.
The Russian leader believes that this is "a typical mistake of any empire - when people think that nothing will happen, everything is so powerful, so strong, and so stable that there won’t be any negative consequences."
"But no, they will come sooner or later," the Russian leader cautioned.
When asked to comment on the EU’s initiative to skirt Washington’s sanctions against Iran, Putin noted that "it was a bit late," but "better late than never." Putin believes that in this case Europe "wants to fulfill its international obligations" under the Iranian nuclear deal and regards it, just like Russia does, as "a component of stability in global affairs and politics, which somehow contributes to the global economy."
The Russian leader recalled that French President Emmanuel Macron had recently pointed to the need to bolster the European Union’s economic sovereignty and reduce its dependence on the United States.
"Of course, this is correct - what else can you expect, when someone tries to get competitive advantages in business using political tools? I think no one will like it, but it is happening and we are seeing it today," Putin said. "Therefore, under these circumstances, Europe is looking for some new opportunities, say, for alternative settlements, in addition to settlements in dollars, which, undermines the dollar itself, by the way," Putin pointed out.