“We all know well, it is no secret, that a significant volume of our Russian gold and foreign currency reserves are frozen in Western banks. And there they constantly talk about planning to steal our money. As soon as this happens, the movement towards the regionalization of payment systems will, without a doubt, accelerate and acquire, without any doubt, an irreversible character,” he said.

The President noted that this is generally beneficial for the world economy. “Maybe it is worth paying for this? But, by the way, I just thought – after all, my basic education is in law – I said stealing of our gold and foreign currency reserves. Stealing is the covert taking of property, but this is overt, this is robbery,” he also said.

According to Putin, the Russian Federation will continue to strengthen its own financial settlement instruments. “We will do this in cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Community and other friendly states, our like-minded partners,” he noted.

Editorial Note:

Regionalization of payment systems means that payment systems are developed and operated mainly within a specific region or group of countries, rather than globally. This process involves creating regional mechanisms that allow countries in the same area or group to make payments and settle transactions with each other more efficiently, using shared platforms, rules, and local currencies, while bypassing international intermediaries.