The Russian president says Moscow will cooperate with its partners to develop a safe system for international settlements
The US and other Western currencies will inevitably lose their leading position in global cross-border transactions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
Delivering his annual address to the Federal Assembly, the head of state said that Moscow would cooperate with its allies to build a secure system of international settlements that are not dependent on the dollar or the euro.
According to Putin, the current policies of Western states are causing the US dollar and the euro to lose their universality in international payments.
He explained that Russia’s former Western partners are forcing Moscow to cut settlements in dollars and other Western currencies.
In December, Putin stated that the share of ruble transactions in Russia’s foreign trade had doubled since the beginning of 2022, and now accounted for one third of the country’s settlements. He projected that the use of national currencies in place of the US dollar and euro in trade with Russia’s international partners would continue to grow.
The process of de-dollarizing the Russian economy started back in 2014, when Western nations introduced the initial sanctions against Moscow over Crimea’s reunification with Russia, which was formerly part of Ukraine. Sanctions imposed since the start of the military operation in Ukraine have sped up the process, particularly after over $300 billion in Russian foreign exchange reserves and other assets were frozen by the US and its allies.
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US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is preparing to leave the Trump administration after what a new report has described as months of tension with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, potentially triggering another change at the army’s top echelons.
According to the Friday report by The Wall Street Journal, Driscoll is expected to step down before the end of the year and could leave his post earlier. The newspaper cited people familiar with discussions over his departure.
The Journal reported that Driscoll and his family vacated the official residence assigned to the army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall this summer, a move that could indicate he was preparing to leave the position.
The reported departure would come at a time of continuing uncertainty at the top echelons of the army.
Hegseth abruptly removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April, while Trump has not yet nominated a permanent successo....more below
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
