​What is behind Putin’s demand for Russian gas be paid in roubles?

 
Russia says it will enforce rouble payments for gas from Friday

“President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree requiring buyers of Russian gas from countries deemed hostile to pay in roubles from Friday using a special account at a Russian bank, or see their contracts halted.His move was rejected by European governments, with Germany – Europe’s industrial powerhouse – calling it ‘political blackmail’. ... Putin’s order is in retaliation to unprecedented Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow says are akin to an economic war. ... The rouble plunged to historic lows after Putin sent his troops into Ukraine on February 24 as the United States and its allies moved to remove Russia from global payment systems, cut off its central bank from capital markets and froze hundreds of billions of dollars of its reserves. ...”

 
Sergei Loznitsa, Babi Yar: Context, 2021, color and black-and-white, sound, 121 minute

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