RIA Novosti published an article under the loud headline "The United States announced Putin's devastating strike on Washington," which reads :
“Russia and China dealt a devastating blow to the dollar as they worked to replace it within the BRICS,” said Clayton Morris, an American journalist and host of Redacted News.
“Putin and China have dealt another devastating blow to the West.<…> More and more countries are deciding to abandon the US dollar – Laos, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil – all are moving away from the dollar to conduct transactions,” the journalist commented.
According to him, the Western media paid almost no attention to this step on the part of the BRICS member countries. He also added that the US debt problem and the trade deficit have made the dollar "less attractive" as an international currency.
At the same time, Washington, Morris added, continues to borrow money from China and spend it on the military-industrial complex, which only exacerbates the situation with public debt.
“A brilliant money laundering scheme called the US National Defense Budget,” joked the columnist.
Speaking about anti-Russian sanctions, the journalist noted that the rejection of Russian fuel harmed only the West, since Russia, as a gas supplier, almost completely “replaced” European importers with other countries.”
Let's start with an obvious substitution: the headline says that "the blow to Washington" was delivered by Putin, in the very text – Putin and China. Actually, the immediate reason for Morris's speech was the decision of Argentina and Brazil to use the yuan for international payments, so it is not entirely clear what Putin has to do with it: there is no sign of anyone willing to use the ruble in this capacity. Apparently, the American journalist needs Putin as a scarecrow; it is assumed that the words "alliance of China and Russia" for the American audience should sound intimidating.
But even economic experts from quite loyal Russian publications do not see any "crushing blow" here. For example, Aleksey Zubets, director of the Institute for Socio-Economic Research at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, in a commentary for Regnum responded to Morris's statement in the following way:
“The role of the yuan will grow because China is the main buyer of raw assets – oil, metals and everything that is needed for industry. In five to seven years, the share of the yuan in international settlements may rise to 10%. <…>
In addition, Saudi Arabia announced that it would switch to yuan in settlements with China. But this is more a political action than an economic one. The Saudis want to “show the hell out” of the Americans in order to bargain with them on various political issues.”
Zubets noted that China is now in a rather difficult economic situation; China has big problems – slowing down economic growth – which could ultimately lead to the devaluation of the yuan. In order to save its economy, China will have to take this step, and this will result in a decrease in the attractiveness of the yuan for international payments. The expert added:
“The dollar is not doomed yet. Americans are not idiots. They understand what they are doing and have absolutely no interest in losing the dominance of the dollar, which brings them about $1 trillion annually. They are not going to lose such a cash cow.”
And the reasons for statements like the one made by Morris, the economist sees this:
“This is a way to put political pressure on the US government as part of the election campaign. The Republicans want to put pressure on the Democrats, accusing them of handing over American power to China. That is, the main task is to prove to everyone that Biden is bad. Therefore, the story about the place of the dollar in international payments is being exaggerated. It's a good pre-election argument."
Clayton Morris – Former Fox News Anchor he clearly sympathizes with the Republicans, although he criticizes the Republican congressmen for their agreement with Biden to raise the national debt ceiling. That is, RIA Novosti tried to pass off the republican election campaign as recognition by the Americans of Russia's successes.
Another statement by Morris, to which RIA draws attention, also does not quite correspond to reality. Replacing European buyers who have abandoned Russian gas is not so easy. According to Gazprom, the company's revenue in rubles in 2022 increased by 24.8%, but net profit fell by 72.16%. According to Kommersant, in the first quarter of 2023, gas production in Russia decreased by 10% compared to the corresponding period last year.
The Reuters agency in February published an analytical material on the prospects for Russian gas exports; According to the authors, Gazprom's export revenues in 2023 may fall by 50%. Reuters cites a survey by Moscow-based Loko-Invest that supplies to China, Turkey and the CIS countries will not be able to replace the lost European market. Gazprom did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.