European leaders again reject Russia’s demand that gas deliveries be paid in rubles.

European leaders on Thursday pushed again towards President Vladimir V. Putin’s newest menace that each one pure fuel imported from Russia should be paid for in rubles beginning Friday — or threat having the provides shut off. Mr. Putin mentioned in a TV handle that corporations buying fuel from Russia would wish to open ruble accounts in Russian banks, efficient Friday, and pay for the fuel by means of these accounts.

“If such funds usually are not made, we are going to think about this a default on the a part of patrons — with all the following penalties,” Mr. Putin mentioned. “No person sells us something totally free, and we aren’t going to do charity both. That’s, present contracts can be stopped.”

On the identical time, Mr. Putin mentioned that Russia will adjust to its “obligations” in its contracts with vitality patrons and “proceed to provide fuel within the established volumes.”

It was unclear how the standoff could be resolved. At stake for European nations are important provides of pure fuel that drives their economies. For Mr. Putin, it’s the tons of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} that Russia pulls in on daily basis in vitality funds by Europe.

Mr. Putin’s insistence on being paid in rubles — as an alternative of taking {dollars} or euros and changing them to rubles on his finish — has been rejected by European leaders. It has additionally raised questions on his actual motives. The Russian authorities and central financial institution have already taken a number of measures to extend the demand for rubles and prop up the forex, which plunged in worth after sanctions froze the Russian central financial institution’s overseas property.

The heads of state of two of Russia’s largest fuel prospects in Europe — Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany and Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy — refused the decision for funds in rubles, saying it was not a part of the phrases of present contracts.

“It stays the case that corporations need, can and can pay in euros,” Mr. Scholz instructed reporters in Berlin on Thursday, a day after he spoke with Mr. Putin by phone in regards to the impending decree.

“It’s completely not simple to alter the forex for funds with out breaching the contracts,” Mr. Draghi instructed reporters in Italy. A former president of the European Central Financial institution, he drew a parallel to a earlier try by the European Union to impose its forex in a sequence of world transactions, with little success, given the challenges of altering present contracts.

He added that he didn’t imagine that Europe was “in peril,” of getting its fuel deliveries shut off, citing his personal telephone name with Mr. Putin on Wednesday, by which he mentioned that he understood that the Russian president had granted a “concession” to European international locations. The conversion of funds from {dollars} or euros into rubles was “an inside matter of the Russian Federation,” Mr. Draghi mentioned.

“Contracts are contracts,” Bruno Le Maire, the financial system minister of France mentioned, after conferences in Berlin.

Robert Habeck, Mr. Scholz’s minister for the financial system and vitality, repeated the insistence of the Group of seven industrial international locations that present contracts for Russian fuel should be revered. “It is crucial for us to not give a sign that we are going to be blackmailed by Putin,” he mentioned.

On Wednesday, Mr. Habeck activated step one of a nationwide fuel emergency plan — that might result in the rationing of fuel — to organize the nation’s residents and its highly effective industrial base for the likelihood that fuel deliveries may very well be stopped.

Each Germany and Italy have been scrambling over the previous month to diversify their pure fuel assets, after years of relying closely on imports from Russia. Final yr, Russian imports accounted for 55 % of Germany’s fuel wants, whereas roughly 40 % of fuel burned in Italy got here from Russia.

Together with his demand, Mr. Putin appears to be looking for to power Europe and different patrons to violate their very own sanctions by making them buy rubles, which might additionally serve to prop up the Russian forex, mentioned Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell College. “Putin appears decided to indicate that he can dictate phrases and power international locations which can be depending on his nation’s pure fuel exports to sing to his tune,” he mentioned.

Jeffrey Schott, a senior fellow on the Peterson Institute for Worldwide Economics, mentioned “it appears Putin’s motivation is to stop laborious forex funds from being frozen,” so he’s requiring the cash to be delivered on to Russian banks.

Anton Troianovski and Gaia Pianigiani contributed reporting.