Putin, who spoke at an international investment forum in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, chided the United States for "an uncontrolled issue of dollars" and said the American currency's dominance had been "one of the triggers" of the global crisis.

Putin renewed Russia's call on the U.S. administration and global community to give the green light to alternative reserve currencies: "If there are several reserve currencies, this will not harm the U.S. economy in any way."

President Dmitry Medvedev's economic advisor, Arkady Dvorkovich, said Thursday that Russia would at next week's G20 summit in Pittsburgh press for more follow-through on measures to confront the global downturn and to change Western-dominated international financial institutions.

Russia and China have pushed for alternative reserve currencies, but being the world's largest holders of U.S. dollar assets - such as Treasuries - they are unlikely to abandon it. Dvorkovich stressed on Thursday that Russia is not out to replace the dollar, but only diversify.

Putin, meanwhile, also promised to encourage foreign investment in Russia by removing bureaucratic hurdles.

"Russia's economy is totally underinvested," and state spending alone is not enough to support a recovery, Putin said in Sochi, which is hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Russia's economy has been hurt by a deep slump in commodity prices and a credit squeeze. Russian stock markets have lost nearly 30 per cent of their value since August 2008 as oil and commodities prices took a hit.

Putin said he "appreciated" that even in the crisis-hit first half of the year, $17 billion of foreign investment was transferred to Russia. He pledged to take steps to "streamline the banking sector and stock market" to make them more attractive for foreign businesses.

"We will step up our efforts to get rid of the administrative barriers," he said. "Russia is open for foreign investment."

Putin hailed President Barack Obama for his move Thursday to scrap the Bush-era missile defence plan for Eastern Europe, but challenged Washington to also cancel all existing restrictions on trade with Russia and give the go-ahead to World Trade Organization membership for Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.