The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said that the seven industrialized nations (G7) have agreed to reject Russia’s petition asking countries to pay for natural gas in rubles.
Energy ministers from the seven countries – the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – agreed at the emergency meeting to urge companies in their countries not to meet Russian requirements.
The G7 has concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to unilaterally change the trading currency are a clear violation of the agreement.
The G7 group is in agreement on this issue, but the Russian government must decide whether or not to suspend gas trading now that the group has rejected the request.
As Kyodo news agency reports, President Putin surprised Japanese energy companies last week when he announced that Russia would ask Japan to buy gas in rubles instead of the usual dollars or euros. Japan was declared an “unfriendly country” after participating in international sanctions against Russia.