Hitting back on western economies for their harsh sanctions amid the conflict in Ukraine, Russia on Wednesday, 27 April, stopped gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland for rejecting Moscow's demand to settle payments in roubles, Reuters reported.
The Russian gas monopoly, Gazprom, allegedly violated long established contracts as they stopped gas flows to the European nations in light of their support to Ukraine. According to Russia, payments in roubles will shield its economy from sanctions.
Wednesday's escalation was censured by European leaders, who termed the breaching of gas contracts as "blackmail" and said that gas is being weaponised as a tool of war.
Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov stated, "Because all trade and legal obligations are being observed, it is clear that at the moment the natural gas is being used more as a political and economic weapon in the current war," Reuters quoted.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen labelled the move "unjustified and unacceptable."
"Gazprom's announcement is another attempt by Russia to blackmail us with gas," she added in a statement on Twitter.
Gazprom holds monopoly over about 50 percent and 90 percent of Poland and Bulgaria's gas consumption, respectively.
Poland said it did not need to draw on reserves and its gas storage was 76 percent full. Bulgaria has said it is in talks to try to import liquefied natural gas through Turkey and Greece.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom (UK) on Tuesday decided on cutting all tariffs on the goods imported from Ukraine, simultaneously putting a strict ban on certain technology exports to Moscow in Russia. The imported goods include key elements like honey, barley, and poultry.
Two weeks ago, the United States Congress had also voted to end normal trade relations with Russia, also codifying the ban on oil imports from the Vladimir Putin regime.
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