Trump has been on the stage for more than a year, and the improvement of US-Russian relations promoted before his election did not come as scheduled. As the relationship continues to deteriorate, Russia has “cleared” most of the US debt and even considered abandoning the use of US dollars to settle oil.
Last week, the United States imposed a new sanctions against Russia to attract a resolute counterattack from Russia. Russia is not only planning to continue selling its holdings of US debt, but also to significantly reduce its reliance on the US dollar and promote the use of rubles and other currencies in international payments.
| PVA |
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV channel that Russia “plans to continue to reduce investment in US Treasury bonds” because of the new US sanctions against Russia, and said that “the dollar is becoming a dangerous payment tool for international trade.” The Russian Finance Minister also hinted that it is possible to use the ruble in the oil trade and abandon the dollar.
“We have greatly reduced our investment in US assets. In fact, the US dollar is now considered a risky payment instrument in international currencies,” Siluanov pointed out.
In March and April this year, Russia sold most of its US Treasury bonds in just two months.
According to data released by the US Treasury Department last month, in the two months to the end of May, Russian holdings of US Treasury bonds fell from $96 billion to less than $15 billion.
Last week, the tension between the United States and Russia deteriorated further. For British citizens, former Russian agent Sergei Skripal was attacked by nerve agents in the United Kingdom, and the United States imposed comprehensive new sanctions on Russia.
The new sanctions may include the downgrade of diplomatic relations, the total ban on Russian oil imports, the ban on “all other goods and technologies” other than US agricultural products, and restrictions on US banks’ loans. The United States must also suspend the aviation agreement and oppose any multilateral assistance provided by the development bank.
Affected by this, the Russian ruble fell to the lowest level in more than two years against the US dollar.
However, Russia’s current reaction is still restrained and does not affect US companies operating in Russia. Siluanov said, “At the moment, we have not made any restrictions or closures, such as closing McDonald’s because our citizens work in these companies.”
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