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By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Russia is not opposed to the U.S. dollar but does not want to be dependent on one reserve currency, the country's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said on Monday.
Shuvalov, in Washington ahead of the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, said Russia planned to build up the ruble as a regional reserve currency but still rely on the dollar.
"We always say that the dollar is the strong currency," Shuvalov told reporters at the Russian embassy. "We have our reserves in dollars and we think that (to) just be dependent on one reserve currency is not very wise. That is why we need to create new reserve currencies, but not against the dollar."
Moscow has significant dollar earnings from its oil exports and has made plain it is uncomfortable with the dollar's position as the dominant global reserve currency.
Russia has cut the share of the dollar in its foreign exchange reserves and, together with China, says developing alternatives to the dollar as a reserve currency makes long-term sense.
Russia will take part in the Group of 20 leaders summit on Sept. 24-25, which is expected to discuss challenges facing the world economy -- questions that have potentially profound implications for currency values on foreign exchange markets.
But few expect the U.S. dollar to lose its preeminent currency position any time soon.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday said it was unhealthy to rely on the United States as the money printing press of the world economy.
"If there is a global agreement on common behavior rules or several reserve currencies ... there will be no danger for the U.S. economy," he told an economic forum in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi.
Another concern of Russia's is World Trade Organization (WTO) membership. Russia is the only member of the G20 that does not belong to the WTO, a sore spot for Moscow in its relations with Washington.
Shuvalov, who was scheduled to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk on Monday, expressed frustration Russia is still not in the world trade body after 16 years of negotiations.
He said Washington had been a major obstacle. WTO officials he consulted said Russian membership depended almost entirely on U.S. backing and the process would only take 2 to 3 months if it had Washington's support.
"Something always happens which changes the American position," he said.
Shuvalov said Russia had come to Washington with proposals for resolving four remaining issues blocking its WTO bid. He thought the matter could be finalized "very quickly, maybe a few weeks" but "it can be done only with the help and assistance of the American administration".
"We are flexible, just let us in," he said.
Earlier this year, Putin threw Russia's WTO bid into confusion by saying the country would only join as part of a customs union with former Soviet Republics Kazakstan and Belarus.
Shuvalov said this customs union should not stop Russia's WTO accession.
(Writing by Debbie Charles and Alister Bull, Editing by Andrew Hay)