New Delhi: The government should find ways to start rupee-rouble trade with Russia as it would help exporters deal with economic sanctions imposed by western countries on Russia, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President A Sakthivel said on Tuesday.

He said that the government should identify 5-6 banks through which exporters of both countries can follow the mechanism.

"The government has to find a way for rupee-rouble trade. Like it did with Iran, the government has to do for Russia also," he said. "Our suggestion is that whatever we import from Russia, we will pay in rupee, and Russia can keep that rupee in a separate account and use that to pay for our exports," he added.

Sakthivel said the main issue is fixing the exchange rate for the rouble. He added that international sanctions on Russia provide business opportunities for Indian exporters.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the West has slapped a slew of sanctions on Russia and has also isolated the country from the payment systems, which is impacting settling trade payments.