West Attempts to Restrict Russia’s Access to Chinese Yuan

The United States and its allies in Europe continue to exercise tough sanctions against Russia over Moscow's ongoing special military operation in Ukraine. 

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The diplomat noted that the exercise of force on China by Western countries is based on the fact that a part of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves is in the Chinese currency, so efforts are aimed at preventing Russia from accessing those reserves in yuan.

Anton Siluanov expressed his hope that the Russia-China partnership will enable both sides to maintain the level of cooperation achieved and expand it in conditions of closure of Western markets.

The Russian Finance Minister's statements came after state-owned Vneshtorgbank (VTB), one of Russia's leading universal banks, allowed its customers to open savings accounts in Chinese yuan that stipulate a maximum interest rate of 8%.

According to a VTB statement, the yuan is one of the most manageable and financially attractive options for investing funds in the current situation, characterized by a rise in the exchange rates of the dollar and the euro, which has led clients to look for other currencies to invest funds. VTB suffered from the sanctions imposed by Washington at the end of February, being forced to develop several plans to cope with the dollar cut.

Russia has been struggling with such sanctions since last February 24, when Moscow launched a special military operation intended to the demilitarization and denazification of the country. This move came after leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk  People's Republics asked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help in the view of increased shelling from Ukrainian military troops. The leader from Russia has reiterated many times that the operation only targets Ukraine's military infrastructure and that civilian lives are not being threatened.