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Many worried over West’s unlawful steps against Russia, Lavrov says

It is stressed that the share of national currencies in Russia’s trade with its partners is growing

MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Many countries have become wary as the West has resorted to illegal methods in a bid to "punish Russia," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a Thursday interview with TV news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov.

In seeking to penalize Russia, Western countries instantly abandoned all their principles, including the inviolability of property, the presumption of innocence, fair competition and market mechanisms, Lavrov maintained.

"They threw everything out the window when they needed to punish the Russian Federation. That this did not work is another story. But the very fact that they used these unlawful methods made everybody wary," he emphasized.

Russia’s top diplomat referred to the idea of using national currencies for settlements currently being discussed by many economies. "Who knows whose skin whoever is US president will inhabit or whom he dislikes upon waking up in the morning," he added. According to Lavrov, the leaders of Brazil and Argentina have already discussed introducing a bilateral currency and the two proposed considering a single currency for all Latin American and Caribbean countries.

"[Brazilian President Luiz Inacio] Lula da Silva came up with a similar idea within BRICS, and that would be a global rather than regional approach to the monetary and financial sphere in a situation where the US has been using the dollar in violation of all norms. So, the process is underway," Lavrov added.

The share of national currencies in Russia’s trade with its partners is growing, the Russian foreign minister stressed. "Saudi Arabia has been selling oil to China for yuans, and we are seeking to increase the share of national currencies in transactions with our key partners to 50%, and the process is ongoing," he concluded.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov

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