The nation will no longer purchase currencies on the global market from August 10 through the end of the year, Russia’s central bank said in a statement on Wednesday. It will, however, continue to sell foreign currencies located in its sovereign wealth fund worth up to 2.3 billion rubles or $23 million dollars a day, which it has been using to help fund its war against Ukraine.
In a separate statement, the central bank added it had begun pilot testing a digital version of the ruble, which it has planned to do since July to prop up its weakening currency.
The digital ruble will be tested with a limited number of clients across 13 banks, though the Russian central bank aims to launch the currency for public use by 2025.
Meanwhile, Kyiv’s summer counteroffensive so far hasn’t accomplished much (if anything) more than Moscow’s winter/spring offensive.
This would be a great time for Washington to get serious about getting both sides to the table, but Washington isn’t run by serious people.