In a shocking twist for the BRICS alliance, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that they will not ditch the US dollar.
In a sit-down interview Thursday, Putin confirmed that Russia is not abandoning the dollar, it is “simply refusing to use the dollar as a settlement tool.”
Putin called the US dollar a “pillar of US power,” saying that the US is undoing this power. The BRICS bloc has long pushed its de-dollarization initiative, saying the greenback won’t be king for long. The alliance recently discussed de-dollarization at its October Summit, and multiple countries have decided to stop using the dollar.
“The payments in dollars are decreasing,” Putin said. “Not too much, as of yet, but as a means of savings, it’s going down step by step. Very gradually it’s shrinking, it is a trend. It’s their own doing.” In regards to BRICS proposals of ditching the US dollar, the Russian president reaffirmed that “our proposals are not aimed against [the] dollar. This is simply us rising to the challenge of modern times, in response towards the development of the economy we are thinking.”
Putin also discussed how BRICS is currently in the development phase of a unified BRICS payment system rooted in the payment systems of different countries. The new system will be “using the groundwork of the systems in each country in exchanging of financial information,” the Russian president said.
The bloc has continued to embrace trades in local currencies. Moreover, they have worked to develop their unique payment infrastructures. These projects should only encourage financial autonomy. Moreover, they should be clear threats to Western hegemony and US dollar dominance. The most interesting point from Putin’s interview is that despite the de-dollarization efforts, Russia has decided not to ban or abandon the greenback: simply avoid it.
Earlier this year, Donald Trump hinted he would consider lifting sanctions, encouraging the use of the dollar. Now that he will be President again, it will be interesting to see how the bloc responds if he does just that. Putin and China’s President Xi Jinping have already opened the door to speaking to Trump, so perhaps there is a future where BRICS and the US dollar live in harmony.
