"This is a vital and topical subject. We are interested in switching to settlements in national currencies and in moving away from settlements in dollars," Dmitriyev told a briefing in Astana, Kazakhstan, after a meeting of SCO member country prime ministers.

The issue is made even more important by the fact that sanctions remain on some Russian companies, he said. "In particular, this is topical because of the embargo on the activities of certain companies, I mean Rosoboronexport."

"This makes us think seriously, because military-technical cooperation is a significant element of Russia’s trade-economic relations with China and India," he said.

However, SCO member countries are yet to reach an agreement on the issue, Dmitriyev said.

The SCO brings together China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan being observers.