The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia will not immediately require natural gas buyers to pay in rubles, following Moscow’s announcement that it will only accept payments in its national currency.
“Payments and deliveries take time,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow will only accept rubles as payment for natural gas deliveries to “unfriendly” countries such as the European Union.
The Russian government, Central Bank, and energy giant Gazprom are expected to present Putin with a system that will allow gas payments to be made in rubles on Thursday.
“It’s not like what’s delivered tomorrow has to be paid for by the evening,” Peskov explained. When asked about the possibility of converting payments for other Russian exports to rubles, Peskov said it was “certainly an idea that needs to be explored.”
Since Moscow’s incursion into Ukraine, Western countries have piled on crippling sanctions, with the United States, among other things, prohibiting the import of Russian oil and gas. However, the European Union, which received approximately 40% of its gas supplies from Russia in 2021, has maintained Moscow deliveries.
