GORKI, January 28. /TASS/. The possibility of introducing a single currency may arise at some stage of the integration of the economies of the Russian Federation and Belarus, but it cannot be rushed, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Russian media, including TASS. He acknowledged that "the level of integration [of the Russian Federation and Belarus] is still insufficient, everyone understands this."

"This must be done, and as we progress along the path of integration, the potential of implementing a single currency may arise. But we definitely cannot rush this. By the way, we've never said 'let's introduce a single ruble and everything will be fine.' A single currency is the outcome of strong economic unification or alignment. This is how the euro, for example, came to be," Medvedev said.

Continuing the parallel with the experience of EU countries, Medvedev stated, "Even though the European Union has a relatively high level of economic development, differences in the economies, for example, of Germany and Greece, or even a country like Italy, have from time to time caused problems related to the functioning of the single currency." "However, they still did it. What happened with the euro? It is now one of the most powerful reserve currencies," Medvedev added.

He recalled the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. "I believe they will come to regret what they have done over and over." Because their economic opportunities have shrunk, they have frequent production and enterprise shutdowns, they may be short of something, and there is an energy crisis. As a result, those who leave integration organizations usually regret it," he concluded.