Polish and Bulgarian leaders accused Moscow of using natural gas to blackmail their countries after Russia’s state-controlled energy company said it would stop supplying the two European nations Wednesday.
The gas cutoff came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said last month that “unfriendly” countries would need to start paying for gas in rubles, Russia’s currency, which Bulgaria and Poland refused to do.
Russian energy giant Gazprom said in a statement that it hadn’t received any payments from Poland and Bulgaria since April 1 and was suspending their deliveries starting Wednesday.
If the countries siphon off gas intended for other European customers, deliveries to Europe will be reduced by that amount, the company said.
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