Putin asks ‘unfriendly countries’ to buy Russian gas in rouble

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the country will sell its gas to “unfriendly countries” in rouble.

Putin, on Wednesday, in a televised meeting with top officials, said the West had erased all trust in their foreign currencies.

The European nations and the United States had imposed heavy sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

On the other hand, Europe depends on gas supplies from Russia for power generation and heating. 

European Union (EU) foreign ministers had disagreed over joining the US in sanctioning Russian oil, with Germany saying the bloc was too dependent on Russia’s fossil fuels.

In 2021, Russia accounted for about 45 percent of the EU’s gas imports and 40 percent of its gas consumption.

“Russia will continue, of course, to supply natural gas by volumes and prices … fixed in previously concluded contracts,” Putin said.

“The changes will only affect the currency of payment which will be changed to Russian rubles.”

According to him, the country would “in the shortest possible time” take steps to implement these measures. 

Putin said the government and central bank had one week to come up with a solution on moving operations into the Russian currency and that Gazprom would be ordered to make the corresponding changes to contracts.

The United States had banned the importation of coal, gas, and oil from Russia amid the invasion of Ukraine.