Russian ruble, Chinese yuan seen as soon-to-be world's dominant currencies

The president is sure that there is no need for Belarusians to rush to exchange Belarusian rubles for U.S. dollars: “There is no need for it. Today the U.S. dollar has already started weakening against other currencies. Nobody needs it any longer, especially given the current sanctions.”

“Very soon we will be hunting for the Russian ruble or the Chinese yuan, because these are the countries we will be mainly trading with,” the Belarusian leader said.

As BelTA reported earlier, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow on 11 March. The topics which the two leaders discussed included bilateral relations and cooperation amid the pressure of the West and the United States and a hybrid war unleashed against Russia and Belarus. The two heads of state coordinated joint steps for mutual support amid the sanctions pressure, including on energy prices.

The government delegations of Belarus and Russia held talks in Moscow on 14 March. The parties agreed to stop using U.S. dollars in payments for energy resources.

“We have decided to stop using U.S. dollars in all our energy payments,” Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko told the media after the meeting with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin.

“It is an absolutely natural decision. Due to well-known circumstances there is no need to rely on some third currency,” he said.

Roman Golovchenko remarked that Russia and Belarus had been talking about the need to stop using U.S. dollars in payments for energy resources for a long time. “And finally we have a blessing in disguise,” the prime minister noted.

He clarified that Belarus will pay Russian rubles for Russian energy resources.