Putin: Dump The Dollar, Trade In Rubles

[Purveyor]

MINSK, Belarus | Belarus should switch from dollars to rubles in paying for energy shipments, Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday, as the two neighbors and allies held difficult talks on energy prices.

Putin — who also holds the title of prime minister of a loosely defined Russia-Belarus union — urged the ex-Soviet neighbor to move toward adopting the Russian ruble as a single currency.

"We mustn't take the issue of a single currency off our agenda," Putin said during talks with Belarusian officials in Minsk.

He said that, as a first step, both Russia and Belarus should phase out the use of dollars in their energy trade. Belarus' economy depends on relatively cheap energy supplies from Russia.

"I don't understand why we are still trading in U.S. dollars ... while we are well aware of the problems faced by the U.S. economy," Putin said.

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AP: http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/14843

[Winterblues]

1. "I don't understand why we are still trading in U.S. dollars

I imagine that thought is being expressed by quite a few countries around the world..

[Porschenut1066]

2. The US has forced the world to price oil in US Dollars now

six out of every seven dollars we print is shipped abroad so that foreign countries have the dollars they need to buy oil. If countries start to use a different currency all of those dollars will come back to the US making our currency almost worthless. Certainly the foreign countries would be in a position to buy the US and we could end up having new owners.