Russia was accused of seeking to blackmail Europe as the energy supplier Gazprom confirmed it had halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, prompting crisis talks in capitals across Europe.
In a statement, Gazprom said it had acted in response to the failure by the two EU countries to make their payments in roubles. “Gazprom has completely suspended gas supplies to Bulgargaz and PGNiG due to absence of payments in roubles.”
The Bulgarian Prime Minister, Kiril Petkov, has said demands to change the payment scheme were a grave breach of a contract and amounted to blackmail. Both Bulgaria and Poland say they have sufficient stored energy for the foreseeable future.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, condemned the move, saying that fellow EU countries would come to Poland and Bulgaria’s aid. She said: “The announcement by Gazprom that it is unilaterally stopping delivery of gas to customers in Europe is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail. This is unjustified and unacceptable.”
