As with all of these politically motivated financial shenanigans it is impossible for the layman to understand all of the underlying complexities. We have been reading for months that the experts thought that Russia and China, and perhaps India, were stockpiling gold so that they could eventually unseat the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. I wonder if this is a first significant step in that direction. They intend to sell their gas and oil abroad for roubles. I believe we have been told for some time that the need for all oil and gas transactions to be made in U.S. dollars was the backbone of the dollar's reserve currency status. Could Putin be so crafty that he foresaw the West's sanctions and planned to use them as a way to justify this announced move?

Troubled times indeed.