Russia To Suspend Natural Gas Supplies To Finland After Country Refuses To Pay In Rubles

Russia To Suspend Natural Gas Supplies To Finland After Country Refuses To Pay In Rubles

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Russia will cut off natural gas to Finland after the Nordic country that applied for NATO membership this week refused President Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay in rubles, the Finnish state-owned energy company said Friday, the latest escalation over European energy amid the war in Ukraine.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto speaks as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson look on, before a meeting at the Capitol in Washington, on May 19, 2022.

J. Scott Applewhite via Associated Press

Finland is the latest country to lose the energy supply, which is used to generate electricity and power industry, after rejecting Russia’s decree. Poland and Bulgaria were cut off late last month but had prepared for the loss of natural gas or are getting supplies from other countries.

Putin has declared that “unfriendly foreign buyers” open two accounts in state-owned Gazprombank, one to pay in euros and dollars as specified in contracts and another in rubles. Italian energy company Eni said this week that it was “starting procedures” to open a euro and a ruble account.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses a meeting of the leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) at the