Dollar Detente? Kremlin Memo Explores Rejoining US-Led Financial System
Dollar Detente? Kremlin Memo Explores Rejoining US-Led Financial System The Kremlin apparently has a highly ambitious proposal for finally mending relations with the United States and wooing the Trump administration to its side regarding resolution to the Ukraine war.It centers on Russia weighing a return to the dollar-based settlement system as part of a broader economic reset with the White House, according to an internal Kremlin memo reviewed by Bloomberg.via Shutterstock The high-level document drafted this year lays out seven sectors where Russian and US economic interests could converge in the aftermath of a Ukraine war settlement.One central item is the call for pivoting back to fossil fuels over green energy, expanding joint ventures in natural gas and offshore oil, while partnering on critical minerals - with significant upside for American firms.The partnership would include, per the Bloomberg report:1. US and Russia working together on fossil fuels2. Joint investments in natural gas3. Offshore oil and critical raw material partnerships4. Windfalls for US companies5. Russia's return to the USD settlement systemThe memo was reportedly circulated among senior Russian officials and would mark a dramatic and sharp reversal from the Kremlin's de-dollarization push, with obvious major implications for global financial flows.It's as yet unclear if the proposals have been formally presented to the US side - it seems unlikely at this stage - given Ukraine-focused talks have really gone nowhere of late.All of the above seems a pipe dream if the basic issues at play stoking the Ukraine conflict can't be resolved. Chief among them remains territorial concessions, Ukraine's NATO and EU ambitions, and the fate of Russia's frozen sovereign assets in Europe.President Putin has repeatedly slammed the US for weaponizing the dollar as a tool to pressure other countries, through sanctions and other methods of economic isolation. But he also point out this 'strategic mistake' is backfiring while in reality slowly weakening the dollar and eroding global confidence.Kremlin spokesman Peskov has yet to comment. In Moscow, is the discussion that BRICS de-dollarization us now a dead game? Tyler DurdenThu, 02/12/2026 - 16:40
