According to Odaily, Russia is planning to use the digital ruble for its first cross-border payment in the second half of next year. Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the Russian State Duma Financial Market Committee, stated that transactions with the central bank digital currencies (CBDC) of China or Belarus are under consideration.
Before conducting cross-border tests, Russia has already initiated the promotion of CBDC domestically. The first phase of the pilot was launched in August 2023, with VTB being the first Russian bank to carry out transactions. Currently, 30 companies in 11 Russian cities support the acceptance of the digital ruble through VTB.