"“Our national industrial giants will not suffer any losses if they choose to make contracts in rubles or other alternative currencies. Russia will benefit from that. We should act paradoxically when we deal with the West. We will sell rubles to consumers of our oil and gas, and later we will exchange rubles for gold. If they don’t like this – let them not do this and freeze to death. Before they adjust, and this will take them three of four years, we will collect tremendous quantities of gold. Russian companies will at last become nationally oriented and stop crediting the economy of the US that is openly hostile to Russia,” the MP said."

Unfortunately, they are correct about that highlighted portion. The US has had massive benefits from being the global reserve currency, and these idiot neo-cons in power are willing to piss it all away in their drive to weaken and split Russia. They don't care about all the suffering it will cause amongst ordinary Americans - because they are all rich and will do just fine anyway (and in case of war, they have their cushy underground bunkers to which to retreat).

And I don't think it's rhetoric - I actually think we are one or two more casers of US chutzpah away from this scenario - maybe already the Rubicon has been crossed.

Russia is not Afghanistan, but to the neo-cons, all problems are nails to be bashed on the head.