MOSCOW: Russia will reduce its economic dependency on the United States if Washington decides to impose sanctions against Moscow over the issue of Ukraine, a Russian official said.
“We would find a way not just to reduce our dependency on the United States to zero but to emerge from those sanctions with great benefits for ourselves,” Kremlin economic aide Sergei Glazyev said on Tuesday, adding that Russia could stop using dollars for international transactions.
“An attempt to announce sanctions would end in a crash for the financial system of the United States, which would cause the end of the domination of the United States in the global financial system,” Glazyev added.
His statement came a day after US President Barack Obama threatened Russia with sanctions, saying if Russia continues its deployment of troops in Ukraine’s Crimea, the US will take a “series of steps – economic, diplomatic – that will isolate Russia and will have a negative impact on Russia’s economy and its status in the world.”
Moreover, US Secretary of State John Kerry in an interview with a US news network, also warned Russian President Vladimir Putin over the deployment of Russian troops to Crimea, saying Russia could be ousted from the G-8 developed nations if it continues on present path.
Kerry also threatened that Washington could target Russia’s state-run financial institutions and freeze assets of top-ranking Russian officials involved in the Crimea crisis.
On Saturday, the Russian parliament unanimously approved a request by Putin to send Russian military forces to Ukraine to ensure peace and order in the region until the socio-political situation in the country is stabilized.
However, the Russian president has not yet made a decision about sending troops.
