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Russia Says Half of Its Foreign Trade Settlements Now in Rubles and National Currencies

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian officials said the country has shifted about 50% of its foreign trade payments to rubles and national currencies, and that the global trade architecture is moving away from WTO principles. President Putin also criticized the global development model as a system designed to drain resources and create dependence.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 3 articles Version 1 Coverage Jun 4–5, 2026 Published Aug 15

Lead

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russian officials described a global shift away from Western-dominated financial systems, reporting that more than half of Russia's foreign trade settlements are now conducted in rubles or the currencies of friendly countries. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and President Vladimir Putin both addressed the changing architecture of world trade and payments, as reported by TASS.

Coverage Comparison

TASS, the Russian state news agency and official general information partner of the forum, provided the only coverage of these statements. The agency reported on two separate speeches: one by Deputy Prime Minister Novak on June 4 and another by President Putin on June 5. Both reports focused on the officials' remarks about the transformation of global economic systems.

Key Claims

Shift to National Currencies

Speaking at the forum on June 4, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that "the old system, when the currency of Western countries, the currency of G7 countries, is dramatically changing now." He stated that "the whole world is proactively implementing alternative payment systems," including blockchain systems and independent financial infrastructural mechanisms for payments between countries.

Novak provided specific figures on Russia's transition: "more than 50% of settlements in Russia at present are already being made either on account of the ruble or on account of the currency of friendly countries." He added that with many of Russia's main partners, this share exceeds 90%.

Global Trade Architecture Moving Away from WTO Principles

On June 5, President Putin highlighted a trend in global trade, saying that "the global trade architecture is gradually moving away from the original principles of the World Trade Organization." He noted that since the start of the 21st century, the number of bilateral, regional and mega-regional agreements in the commerce sphere has increased by almost four times.

Critique of the Global Development Model

In the same plenary session, Putin offered a critical assessment of the existing global development model. He said that the model, built over decades around a limited number of financial centers, technological solutions, insurance and logistics hubs, rating agencies, and reserve currencies, was presented as universal and neutral. However, he argued that it was "in essence, a deliberately created system of dependence or resource drain."

Perspectives

Russian Government

The Russian government, represented by President Putin and Deputy Prime Minister Novak, presented a view of a world economy in transition. They portrayed the shift away from Western currencies and trade rules as a natural and proactive development, with Russia at the forefront of adopting alternative payment systems. Putin's critique of the global development model framed it as a system that benefited a limited number of financial centers at the expense of others.

How this outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

TASS — English as of Jun 4, 2026, 11:30 AM UTC

Framing: Our reading Russia's shift to alternative payment systems — Informative

Facts Included:

Russia has transferred about 50% of its foreign trade payments to rubles and national currencies
The world is moving to new alternative payment systems
Blockchain systems and independent financial infrastructural mechanisms of payments between countries are being implemented

Read the source article →

TASS — English as of Jun 5, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

Framing: Our reading Global trade architecture shifting away from WTO principles — Informative

Facts Included:

The global trade architecture is moving away from the initial principles of the World Trade Organization
The number of bilateral, regional and mega-regional agreements in the commerce sphere has increased by almost four times since the start of the 21st century

Read the source article →

TASS — English as of Jun 5, 2026, 2:00 PM UTC

Framing: Our reading The global development model is a system of dependence and resource drain — Critical

Facts Included:

The global development model was designed to drain resources and create dependence
The model was presented as universal and neutral but was deliberately created to benefit a limited number of financial centers

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimRussia has transferred about 50% of its foreign trade payments to rubles and national currencies. More than 50% of settlements in Russia are already being made either on account of the ruble or on account of the currency of friendly countries.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jun 4, 2026, 11:30 AM UTC
ClaimThe world is moving to new alternative payment systems. Blockchain systems and independent financial infrastructural mechanisms of payments between countries are being implemented.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jun 4, 2026, 11:30 AM UTC
ClaimThe global trade architecture is moving away from the initial principles of the World Trade Organization. The number of bilateral, regional and mega-regional agreements in the commerce sphere has increased by almost four times since the start of the 21st century.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jun 5, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC
ClaimThe global development model was designed to drain resources and create dependence. The model was presented as universal and neutral but was deliberately created to benefit a limited number of financial centers.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via TASS — English as of Jun 5, 2026, 2:00 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 3 articles consulted: TASS — English 4 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-15