State-controlled Russian giant Gazprom said it had cut natural gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria until payments are made in Russian rubles, as President Vladimir Putin had demanded.
“We should do the same with other countries that are unfriendly to us,” said Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s state Duma, in a Telegram post.
Bulgaria’s Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said Wednesday that Bulgaria can meet the needs of users for at least one month. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of using gas “as an instrument of blackmail” and said the region’s 27 countries are prepared to weather Russia’s cutoffs.
