Putin demands Europe and US pay for Russian gas in rubles

(Patria) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said that for gas supplies to "unfriendly countries", such as EU member states and the US, he will only accept payment in Russian currency.

"There is no point in us supplying our goods to the European Union and the United States and receiving payment in dollars, euros and other currencies. For this reason, I have decided to introduce a set of measures to switch payments as soon as possible - let's start with our natural gas - that we receive for supplies to so-called unfriendly countries, into Russian rubles. This means that we will refuse to use compromised currencies in such transfers," said Vladimir Putin, as reported by the pro-regime RIA Novosti.

Putin added that gas supplies will continue in accordance with the quantities and prices specified in the contracts, adding that "a relevant directive will be sent to Gazprom", the Russian energy giant.

He gave the Russian central bank a week to find a way to switch these payments from other currencies. Putin says that the freezing of Russian assets by Western countries has "destroyed trust and that his country's economy has been severely affected by the sanctions imposed by the West due to Russia's actions in Ukraine".

The Guardian writes that this is a move aimed at saving the ruble, the Russian currency, which has drastically fallen in value after Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian pro-regime media report that the value of the ruble has increased on Moscow's capital markets after this announcement by Putin.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today that proposals for an immediate embargo on Russian energy imports would be rejected because their impact on Europe would be "very devastating and harmful".

He said that Germany is in the process of becoming independent of Russian energy sources, but that doing so all at once would push both Germany and the whole of Europe into recession.

He warned that the entire industry would be on the verge of collapse and that the existing anti-Russian sanctions are already severely affecting German citizens.