West ‘shooting itself in the foot’ with sanctions – Putin

Restrictions have effectively led to Russia increasing its sovereignty, the president has said

Western countries are damaging their own economies when they limit Russia's ability to use their currencies through sanctions, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Thursday.

According to Putin, the use of the dollar and euro in servicing Russian exports decreased from 87% in 2021 to 24% as of September 2023 amid Western restrictions. At the same time, the share of the Russian ruble and the Chinese yuan reached 40% and 33%, respectively.

“They [the West] shot themselves in the foot. Is this bad for us? Not really. The more we use our national currency, the better. This increases our sovereignty,” the president insisted, adding “We are not giving up [the dollar and the euro], they just started causing problems for us with settlements in foreign currencies.” 

Speaking about the ruble, the president pointed out that the exchange rate is floating and depends on economic factors, such as prices for export goods and growing demand within the country. Most of the factors affecting the currency are manageable, according to Putin, who insisted that the situation “is normalizing.”

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