🇷🇺 Alexander Babakov, Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma, recently called out President-Elect Trump's tariff threats as a bluff, stating that while it would be possible to apply these measures, it was unlikely due to the repercussions of such actions.

📰 In an opinion piece published on Izvestia, Babakov considered the high interdependence of today's globalized economy, the existence of alternative payment methods 💳, and the internal opposition that such a measure would garner would hinder Trump's initiative.

💰 In his tariff statement directed to the BRICS, Trump argued that this tariff regime would be applied only if these countries created a new currency 💱 and decided to abandon the U.S. dollar. Babakov countered this idea, stating that a single currency was not necessary for the future of the bloc, and that a multilateral payment platform 🌐 would help reach the same goal.