The Kremlin announced Wednesday that halting natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria over the refusal to pay in rubles was a response to unfriendly steps towards Russia, and that it is not practicing blackmail.
“The need for a new payment method is the result of unprecedentedly unfriendly steps, in the economic sphere and the financial sector, which unfriendly countries have taken against us,” said Kremlin Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin’s announcement came after statements by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that they were ready for a decision to cut off Russian gas supplies, considering halting Russian gas supplies an “attempt to blackmail.”
Peskov stressed that Russia is a reliable supplier of energy and is not involved in any blackmail. He declined to reveal how many countries had agreed to switch to paying for gas in rubles in line with a decree issued by President Vladimir Putin last month.
Russia’s Gazprom announced today the suspension of gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland for not paying the dues in rubles.
The company indicated that gas supplies to other countries through Poland and Bulgaria may be halted.
The company on Tuesday told Poland and Bulgaria that they would halt gas supplies starting Wednesday after they refused to pay Russian energy giant Gazprom in rubles, apparently as a warning to the rest of Europe.