Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has insisted that attempts to move towards trade in national currencies cannot be stopped in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The move away from the USD is also supported by BRICS, a five-nation emerging-market bloc. Lavrov is not ruling out the creation of a single fiat currency and notes that a shared monetary system could be “beneficial” for the countries involved.

Lavrov stated that “the initiative of transitioning towards using national currencies in trade between Shanghai Cooperation Organization members is being actively implemented” and that “there is no doubt about this, attempts to slow down the process are pointless.”

The BRICS are also seeking to reduce their reliance on the US dollar in international trade and have already made progress towards that goal by creating an alternative payment system. Lavrov believes that this makes it possible to start “building a payment conduit based on national currencies” which could eventually lead to “creating a single fiat currency.” He noted that “this could be beneficial for all of the countries involved.”