TEHRAN, August 7, YJC - Moscow intends to reduce its dependence on US payment systems and the dollar in response to new sanctions imposed by Washington, a top Russian diplomat said.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - "We will of course intensify work related to import substitution, reduction of dependence on US payment systems, on the dollar as a settling currency and so on. It is becoming a vital need," Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Monday.
The official noted that it was important for Russia to "create efficient economic schemes, where dependence on the dollar, from the American monetary and financial system was less."
Ties between Moscow and Washington reached a critical point last week, when the United States passed a bill to impose tough additional sanctions on Russia over Moscow's alleged meddling in the US 2016 presidential election and the 2014 reunification of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea with Russia.
The restrictive measures, deemed the largest since early 2014, mainly concern the Russian energy sector. Russia, in response, ordered the US diplomatic mission in Moscow to expel 755 diplomats and diplomatic staff by September 1.
Rifts widened between the US and Russia three years ago when a political crisis began in Ukraine.
Washington and its allies in Europe imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Moscow after Crimea decided to join Russia while accusations have been leveled against Russia over its alleged support for pro-Russia forces engaged in fighting with the Kiev government in eastern Ukraine, Presstv reported.
Ties also hit fresh lows in December last year when then US president Barack Obama ordered out 35 Russian diplomats and closed down two embassy summer houses over reports of Russia’s alleged meddling in last year’s US presidential election.
The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, which was initiated by Kiev after it deployed forces to crack down on pro-democracy autonomy-seekers in the Russian-speaking region, has left more than 10,000 people dead since 2014.
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