Free Republic

BRICS countries show little interest in Moscow’s proposal for an alternative financial system. Browsing through the official photos of the annual BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan last month yields intriguing surprises. In several of them, Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a mock-up banknote featuring the flags of the five core BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Looking at the pictures, one could be forgiven for assuming that the BRICS had just launched a common currency. This is exactly what Moscow would like the world to think as part of its bid to demonstrate that Russia...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday there was no need to panic about the depreciation of the ruble in recent days, saying the Russian currency’s sometimes sharp fluctuations were related to budget payments and seasonal shifts. -snip- Putin was speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, following a summit with leaders of a security alliance of ex-Soviet countries.

Russia's currency has dropped to its lowest level in more than two years against the dollar in the wake of new sanctions and soaring geopolitical tensions. Russia's ruble continued to weaken against the dollar on Monday, trading at 104 against the greenback. The currency is now at its weakest level versus the dollar since March 2022, when Russia first began its invasion of Ukraine. -snip- The ruble's decline was also fueled by Russia firing a new hypersonic missile in Ukraine on Thursday, a retaliatory measure after Ukraine fired US- and British-made missiles into Russia earlier in the week. Russia's new...