At the same time as Russia enlarges its reserves of gold, the country is disposing of a bigger number of United States bonds, placing those debt instruments on international markets. As of the end of 2016, gold reserves stood at 1,614.27 tons, which is 15 percent more in relation to the figure reported for 2015.

While some analysts predicted that President Putin would no longer be inclined to demonstrate his country’s financial independence from the West after the elections in the U.S., Russia’s accumulation of gold continued even after President Donald Trump came to power. From November of 2016 until January, Russia increased its gold reserves by 72 tons. The country’s Central Bank added another 9.3 tons to its gold reserves in February 2017, bringing the total to 1,650 tons. According to some analysts, Russia has not been holding this much gold from the time of the Soviet Union. At such a pace of gold reserve accumulation, Russia may readily compete with the U.S. in the foreseeable future. Russia has set the goal to leave behind both the European Union and the United States in terms of gold reserves.

Financial analysts believe that the decisionmakers in the Russian government worry that the United States may use the dollar as a weapon against Russia. Stocking up on gold may just provide a formidable enough defense. At the same time, Russia’s trend to amass larger quantities of gold is nothing new. The Russian leadership made gold purchases a priority as early as in 2007, during George W. Bush’s presidency. Russia’s resolve to acquire more and more gold has not waned despite the 2008 financial crisis, the sanctions, and the fall in the oil price.

All the while President Putin accumulates gold, Russia is a little less reluctant to buy U.S. commercial paper. Russia’s holdings of U.S. bonds now stand at USD100 billion, some USD50 billion less than they were in pre-crisis years. Apparently, Russia sees no need to be among the principal creditors of the United States. Such countries as Brazil, Ireland, and Switzerland have more U.S. securities on hand than Russia.