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ANTI WAR

Russia Responds to New US Sanctions by Dumping the Dollar

(ANTIMEDIA)  Following new sanctions against Russia that President Donald Trump signed into law last week, Moscow responded Monday by announcing Russia will speed up work on reducing the country’s dependence on Western payment systems and the U.S. dollar in general, according to Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

“We will of course intensify work related to import substitution, reduction of dependence on U.S. payment systems, on the dollar as a settling currency and so on. It is becoming a vital need,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Monday, as cited by RIA.

“(Otherwise) we will always sit on their hook, exactly what they need,” he added.

The sanctions bill, born of U.S. politicians’ continuing accusations that Russia meddled in the 2016 election, was passed by Congress and sent to Trump’s desk for final approval at the end of July.

Russia didn’t wait for the U.S. president’s signature, however, and boldly responded within hours the bill’s congressional passage. As CNN reported:

“President Vladimir Putin has hit back at new American sanctions by ordering the US to cut staff at its diplomatic mission by 755, in Moscow’s most aggressive move against Washington since the final years of the Cold War.”

Trump signed the sanctions bill into law last Wednesday, August 2.

Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov’s comments Monday came as his boss, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) forum in the Philippines.

Speaking of the U.S.-Russia relationship following his talk with Lavrov, Tillerson said Monday that there exists “serious mistrust between our two countries” but that they “simply have to find some way to deal with that.”

Of the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, Tillerson said the U.S. needs to help Russia “understand how serious this incident had been and how seriously it damaged the relationship.”

The secretary of state also said Monday that an official response to Russia’s expulsion of 755 U.S. diplomats at the end of July can be expected by September 1.

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Lauren von Bernuth

Lauren is one of the co-founders of Citizen Truth. She graduated with a degree in Political Economy from Tulane University. She spent the following years backpacking around the world and starting a green business in the health and wellness industry. She found her way back to politics and discovered a passion for journalism dedicated to finding the truth.

2 Comments

  1. dockilldare August 9, 2017

    the question this article does not discuss is what the impact of this will have on the American economy? Once a major player like Russia dumps the dollar, how many other smaller nations will follow suit? how many 1st world nations will follow suit is another story in and of itself. but the bottom line is how will it effect the US economy?

    there is no way to look at this and think that it will not hurt the barely breathing US economy.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous September 12, 2017

      exactly…

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