Lavrov called the trend of abandoning the dollar irreversible

The trend of abandoning the dollar for settlements in international trade is irreversible, declared Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a press conference following his visit to Uzbekistan.

Lavrov recalled that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had previously declared on the need to create an alternative currency to the dollar for settlements in international trade.

“This trend is irreversible … the flight from the dollar is now beginning, it is not very fast yet, but it will certainly accelerate,” he said.

According to the minister, the United States “seriously cut the branch on which they were sitting”, managing the world economy due to the dominant role of the dollar. The imposition of sanctions against Russia, Lavrov believes, demonstrated to other countries the need to stop dependence on the West.

In March, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin urged countries to abandon the dollar to protect their economies amid the collapse of the American Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. The Kremlin then noted that the sanctions imposed by Western countries largely insured the Russian economy from the consequences of the banking crisis in the United States. “There is a blessing in disguise,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia.

Last fall, the inevitable process of de-dollarization called and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He then said that the authorities needed to create all the conditions for further structural restructuring of the economy.

In October, Chairman of the Board VTB Andrey Kostin drew attention to the fact that even 10 years ago, countries that did not support sanctions against Russia in 2022 formed about 30% of foreign trade turnover, but by the end of 2021 this share had grown to 45%. “This means that the abandonment of the dollar and the euro for Russia is already irreversible,” he said at the time.