ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. Russia does not intend to completely abandon the dollar as a reserve currency or a universal means of payment, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. He was speaking at a meeting with the heads of world news agencies, organized by TASS.

"If you heard me saying something about the dollar, and understood that we want to get rid of it as a reserve currency or as a universal means of payment, this is not the case. I was talking about something else. I was talking about the fact that the United States uses the dollar, uses its national currency for various kinds of sanctions, "the Russian leader said.

As an example, he referred to the situation when Russia cannot make dollar payments with partners as part of military-technical cooperation due to the US sanctions.

According to Putin, Russia is forced to switch to settlements in other currencies due to the "practical nature" of the US sanctions.

"They are forcing us to do this, our American partners. We do not voluntarily shy away [from the dollar], we are forced to do this. But when we do this, a certain system of our financial relations with a partner is formed. Already outside the dollar zone," the Russian President said.

Putin added that by such actions, the American authorities primarily harm themselves.

"Why are the political authorities of the United States doing this? They are chopping the branch they are sitting on. In the end, they will fall down. Everyone in the world sees it. And the question of the reliability of dollar settlements arises. Therefore, foreign exchange reserves in dollars are being reduced. Not only here, practically all over the world, including the US itself. The volume of settlements in dollars is decreasing," Putin said.

The Russian President also drew attention to the fact that the current situation may ultimately force energy companies to abandon the American currency in their settlements, which will seriously affect the position of the dollar in the world. Putin said that "some of our companies, for example, in the oil sector, have volatility in national currencies and do not want to leave the dollar today," but they can be put in conditions when they have no other choice. "This will already be a serious blow to the dollar as a world reserve currency," he stressed.