Germany Rejects Putin’s Demand for Gas Payments in Rubles

  • Finance Minister says dollar, euro contracts must be honored
  • Russian leader has threatened to halt natural gas supplies
Christian LindnerPhotographer: Liesa Koppitz-Johanssen/Bloomberg
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Companies buying Russian natural gas should not have to set up ruble accounts to pay for it, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said, pushing back against a demand made last month by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Contracts are contracts,” Lindner said Wednesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Washington. “Contracts are based on dollars and euros and so private-sector companies should pay in dollars or euros.”

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Germany Rejects Putin’s Demand for Gas Payments in Rubles