On Thursday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto announced that Russia and Venezuela are making progress toward de-dollarization, and may soon switch to trading in national currencies.

Pinto was speaking at a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, while on a three-day official visit to Russia.

Pinto said the central banks in both countries are working out the technical and technological details of the switch. He added that it is expected that “very soon” both partners will be able to shift away from the US dollar and begin using local currencies for cross-border trade settlements.

He also noted that it is the fastest growing developing nations, especially the BRICS nations, (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), which are leading the de-dollarization movement, to reduce the influence of the US dollar in international trade settlement.

The global push toward de-dollarization and trading in national currencies began to pick up steam last year, following the imposition of sanctions on Moscow over the military action in Ukraine which were designed to cut Russia off from the financial payment systems of the West, and freeze its foreign reserves.

The US and the EU have also sought to impose sanctions on Venezuela in recent years.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that Moscow and Caracas have been working to expand mutual trade and investment to strengthen their economies and make them more resilient as the West seeks to pressure them.