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Anti-Russian sanctions

Diplomat warns US placing dollar and West’s payment systems in jeopardy

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman pointed out that Russia's gradual reduction of the dollar share in national and cross-border settlements is a "forced decision"

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. Recent US actions cast doubt on the advisability of using the dollar and payment systems controlled by the West, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

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"Naturally, all this casts doubt on not only the expediency of using the American currency as a priority payment currency, but also the reliability of using payment mechanisms controlled by the West," the diplomat said.

She pointed out that Russia's gradual reduction of the dollar share in national and cross-border settlements is a "forced decision" made "in the conditions of losing confidence in the West in matters of ensuring uninterrupted access to the international financial system" as well as declining predictability of US economic policy and uncontrolled introduction of unreasonable restrictive measures.

On Thursday, the United States introduced another package of sanctions against Russia, this time related to Moscow’s alleged hacker attacks, interference in the US elections and the situation around Crimea.

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