Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected accusations Russia is using natural gas supplies as a tool of blackmail - saying Russia is a reliable energy supplier.
The EU made the blackmail comment earlier today, after Russia decided to cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Moscow said it was because they had refused to pay in the Russian currency, the rouble.
Peskov did not say how many countries have agreed to pay for gas in roubles, but said Russia introduced the new rule because of sanctions by "unfriendly countries against us".
"This need was dictated by the fact that, as you know, a significant amount of our reserves were blocked or - in other words - stolen. Therefore, there is no question of any blackmail," he said.
He said if other consumers "decline to pay under the new system," then President Putin's decree, under which gas supplies can be cut off, "of course will be applied".
