Putin threatens to turn off Europe’s gas supplies TOMORROW if countries refuse to pay in roubles, saying ‘We get nothing free of charge and we are not going to engage in charity either’

  • Russia’s Putin today threatened to close down European gas from tomorrow if states refuse to pay in roubles
  • He said foreign buyers will have to ‘open rouble accounts in Russian banks’ which can be used to pay for gas
  • According to Gazprom, 58% of its sales of natural gas to Europe as of January 27 were settled in euros
  • German Economy Minister Robert Habeck today rejected the demand, saying that it amounted to ‘blackmail’
  • Spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said companies are not planning to buy Russian gas in roubles
  • Putin announced on March 23 that ‘unfriendly’ states would have to pay in roubles in retaliation for sanctions 

Vladimir Putin today threatened to turn off Europe’s gas supplies from tomorrow if countries refuse to pay in roubles.

The Russian President, announcing a decree in televised remarks, said foreign buyers would have to ‘open rouble accounts in Russian banks’ which can be used to pay for ‘gas delivered starting from tomorrow’.

‘If such payments are not made, we will consider this a default on the part of buyers, with all the ensuing consequences. Nobody sells us anything for free, and we are not going to do charity either – that is, existing contracts will be stopped,’ he said.

The move has been seen as a bid to bolster the Russian currency, which fell to historic lows when the West applied sanctions after he sent his army into Ukraine on February 24. Western companies and governments have rejected the demands as a breach of existing contracts, which are set in euros or dollars.

Russia has been hit by sweeping sanctions on its economy and trade since the start of Putin’s war in Ukraine but measures by EU governments have not targeted oil and gas contracts with Moscow because many member states are heavily reliant on the Kremlin’s supplies.

The European Union gets 30 per cent of its oil usage from Moscow and relies on Russia for 40 per cent of its gas consumption, costing the bloc £340million (€400million) a day.