OREANDA-NEWS. The President of The Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, speaking at the forum “Russian Energy Week”, said that using the dollar as a political instrument is a big mistake of the United States government.

In his opinion, such actions undermine confidence in the US national currency. “Nowadays we see the attempts to use the dollar as a political instrument. I think this is one more very big mistake,” the Russian leader stated.

The President recalled that the US dollar has always had great confidence and was considered to be a universal mean of payment. The US sanctions policy limiting payment in dollars undermines such confidence, Putin added. “The United States begun to use dollar payments as an instrument of political struggle, they saw off the bough on which they are sitting, and soon they will crash down,” he resumed.

Putin mentioned that in the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, 72 % of payments are made in roubles, and now many persons refuse the dollar and begin to work with their own national currencies. “Rethinking this situation must necessarily come to the authorities of the United States,” the Russian leader explained.

This is not the first time when Putin has spoken about undermining confidence in the US currency. During last year’s Direct Line (the annual special television program and a Q&A show), the President called the dollar “the only universal currency,” adding that if Washington restricts payments in dollars, in the long-run outlook it will negatively affect confidence in the US currency.