Russia indicated it would be willing to be flexible in considering flexible payment options for friendly countries such as China or Turkey, while insisting that unfriendly western countries pay in rubles and gold, reported CNBC.
“If they want to buy, let them pay either in hard currency, and this is gold for us, or pay as it is convenient for us, this is the national currency,” noted the head of the energy committee of the Russian Duma in a press conference reported by CNBC . “As for friendly countries, China or Turkey, which are not involved in the sanctions pressure. We have been proposing to China for a long time to switch to settlements in national currencies for rubles and yuan. With Turkey, it will be lira and rubles.”
He also noted that it was possible to trade bitcoins opening the door to accepting cryptocurrencies as payment. The comments come as Russia is increasingly isolated from developed world economies.
Saudi Arabia has also been reported to be looking to alternatives to the dollar for energy deals, leading to speculation that the position of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency may be weakening.
