VLADIVOSTOK, April 13. /TASS/. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with the governor of Russia’s Primorsky Territory Oleg Kozhemyako on Wednesday said that he had long supported transitioning to settlements between Moscow and Minsk in Russian rubles.
"The Russian ruble does not bother us. I have long demanded that we should switch to settlements in Russian rubles. We do not need dollars and euros. But it was impossible to break through all that," Lukashenko said.
"Today we pay for energy and other things in Russian rubles. That suits us. We sell using Russian rubles and everything we need, resources, we also buy using Russian rubles," he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia intends to increase the share of settlements in national currencies and the currencies of countries that are reliable partners. "We will continue to consistently and systematically move in this direction [strengthening the country's financial and economic sovereignty] as part of a long-term plan, to increase the share of foreign trade settlements in the national currency and the currencies of the countries that are reliable partners," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier signed presidential decree on rules of gas trade with unfriendly states. "I have signed today the decree establishing rules of Russian natural gas trading with the so-called unfriendly states," he said. The President noted that Western countries that are unfriendly to Russia will have to open accounts in ruble in Russian banks to pay for gas.