Putin wants 'unfriendly countries' to pay rubles for gas

President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will demand that “unfriendly″ countries pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles from now on

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday that Russia will demand that “unfriendly'' countries pay for Russian natural gas exports only in rubles from now on.

Putin told a meeting with government officials that “a number of Western countries made illegitimate decisions on the so-called freezing of the Russian assets, effectively drawing a line over reliability of their currencies, undermining the trust for those currencies.”

“It makes no sense whatsoever," Putin added, "to supply our goods to the European Union, the United States and receive payment in dollars, euros and a number of other currencies. As a result, he said he was announcing “measures” to switch to payments for “our natural gas, supplied to so-called unfriendly countries” in Russian rubles.

The Russian president didn’t say when exactly the new policy will take effect. He instructed the country’s central bank to work out a procedure for natural gas buyers to acquire rubles in Russia.