Putin says 'unfriendly countries' must buy Russian oil and gas in rubles.

Financial Review
Mar 20, 2022 – 8.00pm

Are the days of US dollar dominance drawing to a close?

Concern is growing that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will accelerate the demise of the international financial system, and dislodge the US dollar from its privileged status.

For many, reports that China and Saudi Arabia are now stepping up negotiations to price oil sales in yuan provided confirmation that the US dollar has now begun its ineluctable slide. As The Wall Street Journal reported last week, Saudi Arabia is now in active talks with Beijing to price some of its oil sales to China in yuan, a move that would dent the US dollar’s dominance of the global petroleum market.

The report comes as a growing number of analysts warn that Beijing’s determination to diminish the US dollar’s privileged position at the heart of international finance will have been bolstered by the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its allies.
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The problem is that if the US dollar and US government bonds are no longer deemed risk free, there will be a growing focus on assets that are presently outside the global banking system, such as gold and commodities, and cryptocurrencies.
Zoltan Pozsar, global head of short-term interest rate strategy at Credit Suisse, says a crisis unlike anything since Nixon took the US dollar off gold in 1971 is now under way, which will lead to the creation of a new world monetary order.

https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/are-the-days-of-us-dollar-dominance-drawing-to-a-close-20220320-p5a67o

Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan

The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, declared explicitly for the first time last night that the US-led war on Iraq was illegal.

Mr Annan said that the invasion was not sanctioned by the UN security council or in accordance with the UN's founding charter. In an interview with the BBC World Service broadcast last night, he was asked outright if the war was illegal. He replied: "Yes, if you wish."

He then added unequivocally: "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it was illegal."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq

United States withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (aka Iran Nuclear Agreement)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_withdrawal_from_the_Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action

US formally withdraws from Open Skies Treaty that bolstered European security
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/22/politics/us-withdrawal-open-skies/index.html

U.S. Withdraws From Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/1924779/us-withdraws-from-intermediate-range-nuclear-forces-treaty/

U.S. withdraws from international accords, says U.N. world court 'politicized'
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-diplomacy-treaty-idUSKCN1MD2CP

You can add in the unprecedent scope and size of financial sanctions that the US has just invoked too, those are the reason China is claiming the US has "weaponized the international financial system."

Little things like freezing a country's foreign reserves, sanctioning transactions of gold reserves have many countries feeling less sure of the US as a trustworthy partner.

Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan

The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, declared explicitly for the first time last night that the US-led war on Iraq was illegal.

Mr Annan said that the invasion was not sanctioned by the UN security council or in accordance with the UN's founding charter. In an interview with the BBC World Service broadcast last night, he was asked outright if the war was illegal. He replied: "Yes, if you wish."

He then added unequivocally: "I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it was illegal."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq

United States withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (aka Iran Nuclear Agreement)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_withdrawal_from_the_Joint_Comprehensive_Plan_of_Action

US formally withdraws from Open Skies Treaty that bolstered European security
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/22/politics/us-withdrawal-open-skies/index.html

U.S. Withdraws From Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/1924779/us-withdraws-from-intermediate-range-nuclear-forces-treaty/

U.S. withdraws from international accords, says U.N. world court 'politicized'
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-diplomacy-treaty-idUSKCN1MD2CP

Russia says it made a $117 million bond payment — a move to avoid defaulting on its debt — and the US Treasury Department said it would allow the installment.

Russia's finance minister told state-run media Thursday that the country fulfilled a debt obligation, and noted that it's up to the US as to whether the payment would be allowed. The Treasury said it would let the payment go through.

Reuters reported Thursday that correspondent bank JPMorgan received the payment and made a credit to the paying agent Citigroup, which is responsible for distributing the money to investors.
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Putin's forces launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine last month, unleashing a wave of sanctions from the West that have largely cut off Russia from global financial markets and blocked it from accessing about half of its $640 billion in foreign currency reserves.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/bonds/us-treasury-allow-russia-bond-payment-go-through-avoid-default-2022-3