President Vladimir Putin has announced that from now on Russian gas will have to be paid not in dollars or euros, but exclusively in rubles.
The European Union will either have to violate its own economic embargo, or stop sourcing Russian gas, causing a very severe recession in its economy.
Vladimir Putin has announced that Russia will no longer accept payments in dollars or euros for gas deliveries to the EU, giving Russian authorities a week to implement the new ruble system.
“I have taken the decision to implement a set of measures to switch to payment in rubles for our gas delivered to hostile countries, and to waive in all regulations the currencies that have been compromised”, announced on March 23 the Russian President Vladimir Putin at a government meeting, explaining that it was a reaction to the freezing of Russian assets in the West.
“The United States and the EU have declared themselves insolvent on their commitments vis-à-vis Russia. And now everyone in the world knows [that] commitments in dollars and euros may not be fulfilled. []… Delivering our products to the EU and the United States and receiving payments in dollars, euros and certain other currencies no longer makes sense for us”, added the Head of State of the Russia, stressing that his country “would certainly continue to supply natural gas, in accordance with the volumes and prices and according to the pricing principles indicated in the contracts concluded previously”.
“Unlike some of our colleagues, we value our reputation as a reliable partner and supplier,” he continued.
On the same day, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak also assured that Russia had never used energy resources as a weapon and that even today his country continues to supply gas to Europe, including via Ukraine, in accordance with all its obligations. “Russia has nothing to do with this situation and has in no way contributed to the decline [in volumes] of deliveries of energy resources,” he said.
