Kremlin Says European Countries Hurt Themselves by Refusing to Pay for Gas in Rubles

The risks that Russia is facing due to the shift to payments for gas in rubles have been taken care of, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday said some European countries hurt their own economies by refusing to pay for gas in rubles as they seek to punish Russia.

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had mentioned that nothing essentially changed for the buyers of gas.

"It’s not about any additional difficulties or any losses or price changes that might happen due to foreign exchange rate," Peskov told reporters.

"So, this (refusal to pay in rubles) is, let’s say, the sacrificing of economies to some absolutely contrived political prejudice, a desire to punish our country by any means, even to the detriment of their own taxpayers and consumers of gas, and producers and so on," he said. "Unfortunately, some Europeans have taken that path."

The spokesman said the risks that Russia is facing due to the shift to payments for gas in rubles have been taken care of.

"Certainly, everything has been calculated," Peskov said. "All the risks were forecast and required measures were taken."

Payments for natural gas in rubles shouldn’t affect its price, he said.

"Payments depending on [currency] conversion doesn’t affect the price in any way," Peskov said. "We had specifically agreed on that." He referred further questions on the details of the new payment arrangement to Gazprom.