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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