Russian President Proposes Creation of Regional Monetary Union

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday (March 20) proposed establishing a regional currency union with Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Mr Putin's proposal came at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in the Kazakh capital Astana.

Russian currency is losing value due to the impact of sanctions

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Putin affirmed that this alliance would bring benefits to all three countries: "We agreed to continue coordination in monetary policy. We believe that the time has come to start thinking about creating a monetary union in the future. Closer cooperation will help us to cope more easily with financial and economic threats from outside as well as protect the common market."

President Putin also mentioned the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. According to Mr. Putin, the violence in eastern Ukraine is decreasing thanks to the Minsk agreement reached last month. He expressed hope that the Ukrainian government will fully implement the points in this agreement./.

According to VOV