Russia reaffirmed Tuesday that it would only receive payments for gas delivery to the EU in the ruble after the Minister of G7 called this “unacceptable” arrangement.
“Nothing will supply gas for free. It’s impossible. And it can only be paid in the ruble,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“The company must understand the entirely changing environment that has emerged in the condition of the economic war carried out against Russia,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Moscow will now only receive a ruble as a payment for natural gas shipments to “unfriendly” countries, which include the European Union.
Western countries have accumulated crippling sanctions on Moscow since moving troops to Ukraine, with the United States forbid the import of Russian oil and gas among other steps.
However, the European Union – who received around 40% of the gas supply from Russia in 2021 – has maintained shipments from Moscow.
Speaking on behalf of the G7 Energy minister, Robert Habeck Germany said Monday that Russian demand was “unilateral and clear violations of the existing agreement”.
He said the payment in the ruble “was not accepted” and asked the energy company to not comply with Pak Putin’s request.
On Thursday, the Russian government, the Central Bank and Gazprom energy giant are expected to present Putin with a system that will allow gas payments to be carried out in the ruble.
“There is nothing better than Russian gas, all the other options are worse. That is the reality,” said Mr Peskov.