Russia warned on Monday that it will not supply gas if European countries do not agree to pay for shipments in rubles, as Moscow has requested.

“It is evident that we are not going to supply free gas. That can be said for sure,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told his daily news conference.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last week that the country will refuse to pay for Russian gas in currencies, including the dollar and the euro, and that it will charge only in rubles for supplies to “unfriendly” countries, including those of the European Union (EU), US, or the UK.

The news caused concern in the West, where several countries announced that they were not willing to buy the fuel if the payment had to be made in Russian rubles.

The Kremlin insisted today that in the current situation the country cannot “devote itself to charity”.

According to Peskov, such behaviour is “neither possible nor convenient” for Moscow, which faces multiple sanctions imposed by the West.

On March 31, the Russian gas giant Gazprom, which for the moment keeps supplies to Europe unchanged, as well as the Central Bank and the Russian Government, will inform Putin about the measures to be taken to transfer the payment for the fuel. in rubles.