By George Aluo, with agency reports
Russia has started what could pass for economic warfare against Poland and Bulgaria three months into her invasion of Ukraine.
Both Poland and Bulgaria woke up this morning only to discover that Russia’s gas firm Gazprom has cut off supplies to them for refusing to pay in Russia’s currency…roubles.
Russian gas is however still flowing to other EU countries like Austria and Germany.
While Poland and Bulgaria are the first in the EU to have their Russian gas supplies cut off, they’re not the only countries to have refused Moscow’s demand that deliveries be paid for in roubles – which Gazprom says is the reason it turned off supplies this morning.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has declared the move by Russia as an instrument of blackmail.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen was quoted by the BBC as saying the move is “unjustified and unacceptable.”
Poland has however declared that it will cope without Russian gas.
Warsaw in a statement said it would source for gas elsewhere.
