Russia threatens to cut gas supplies to more countries
The Kremlin threatened on Wednesday to cut off its supplies of natural gas to countries that do not pay Russian energy company Gazprom in rubles, hours after stopping gas flows to Poland and Bulgaria.
"As the deadline for gas payments approaches, if some consumers refuse to pay under the new system, the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin will be implemented," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by TASS news agency as saying.
Putin issued a decree last March stating that "countries not friendly to Russia", including all EU countries, will only be allowed to pay for Russian gas in rubles.
Peskov also denied the announcement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Russia was using gas as a "blackmail tool".
Peskov stated that Russia only required customers to open bank accounts in Gazprombank, where they could pay in euros or dollars as before, and the bank would convert them into rubles for Gazprom.
Peskov explained that this would not incur any additional burdens for customers.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news