Russia will not immediately implement the required payment of gas supplies in rubles. According to the Russian Presidential Office, the changeover should take place gradually.
According to the Kremlin, the conversion of payments for Russian gas supplies to Europe from euros and dollars to rubles will not come into effect on Thursday. Gas delivery and payment are separate processes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin’s instruction to switch to ruble payments is not yet valid for this Thursday.
Putin wants to meet with representatives of the Russian gas giant Gazprom and the central bank on the day to be informed about the current state of affairs. The announced meeting and the refusal of Western countries to switch to the ruble had sparked fears in Europe that Russia could quickly shut down gas supplies. Peskow also said if you don’t pay, there will be no gas; Russia is not a charity. Russia wants to switch to ruble payments because of Western sanctions in the wake of the war in Ukraine because, according to Putin, the country can no longer do anything with euros and dollars.
Earlier, the head of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, had warned the EU that it would have to pay in rubles if it wanted to continue purchasing Russian natural gas and threatened to take similar action when exporting oil, grain, metal, fertilizers, coal and wood.
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