Russia is blackmailing the EU with its energy resources the European Commission president said Brussels will not allow Moscow to override
Russia is blackmailing the EU with its energy resources, the European Commission president said Brussels will not allow Moscow to override sanctions by demanding EU importers pay for Russian oil and gas in rubles, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. The comment comes after Russia announced, the previous day, that payments for gas exports to certain Western countries will be switched to its domestic currency, the ruble. „[Trading energy in rubles] would be an attempt [on the part of Russia] to circumvent the sanctions. We will not allow our sanctions to be circumvented. The time when energy could be used to blackmail us is over,“ von der Leyen told Reuters.