Ukraine war
Putin assures Scholz that he will continue to be able to pay gas payments in euros
Vladimir Putin (right) and Olaf Scholz at their last meeting in the Kremlin at the end of February.
© Kay Nietfeld / Picture Alliance
According to the German government, Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to allow European companies to pay their bills for Russian gas in euros. He said that to Olaf Scholz in a phone call.
After talks with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) confirmed that Germany would continue to pay for gas supplies from Russia in euros or dollars, as stipulated in the contracts. “It remains the case that the G7 agreement applies,” said the spokesman for the federal government, Steffen Hebestreit. Putin explained in the phone call that a law will apply from April 1st, according to which gas deliveries are to be paid for in rubles.
Vladimir Putin asked for the interview
However, nothing would change for the European contractual partners: payments would continue to be made exclusively in euros and, as usual, would be transferred to Gazprom Bank, which is not affected by the sanctions. The bank then converts the money into rubles. Scholz did not agree to this procedure, but only asked for written information about it, Hebestreit emphasized. Putin asked for the conversation.
The Kremlin had previously announced that switching to ruble payments for Russian gas should not put Germany at a disadvantage. The decision should not “lead to a worsening of the contract terms for European importers of Russian gas.”
According to the Kremlin, Putin justified the conversion of payments from euros to dollars with “the fact that the foreign exchange reserves of the Bank of Russia were frozen by the member states of the European Union in violation of the norms of international law”. This was the EU’s reaction to Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Russian President said last week that payments in euros and dollars are now of no value to the country.
How do civilians get to safety?
According to the Kremlin, Putin and Scholz also exchanged views on the negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul. The talks also discussed how civilians from the contested areas of Ukraine, including the port city of Mariupol, can be brought to safety. The Kremlin did not give any details. The Ukrainian and Russian sides repeatedly accuse each other of sabotaging the evacuation of the cities.