rt.com

Moscow's latest decision to switch to its national currency for gas payments was made to secure Russia's ability to trade and to ensure that its producers receive their money despite Ukraine-related Western sanctions, according to Dmitry Peskov, press secretary to President Vladimir Putin.

"Amid this growing distrust toward reserve currencies [US dollar and euro], the president put forward the idea of the necessity of hedging risks so that [Western states] would not try to rob us again. And therefore we introduced this [mechanism] of payments in rubles… for the most important commodities. In this case, we are talking about natural gas," Peskov explained. He noted that the move did not aim to "punch anyone in the nose."

"We don't want to make life difficult for our customers. Russia has always been a reliable supplier. Russia values its reputation as a reliable supplier. Of course, we will not do anything that will undermine this reputation," he stressed.

However, Russia can’t afford to jeopardize its need to receive payments for its exports, therefore the new payment mechanism aims to “prevent [payments in] dollars and euros from being taken away due to sanctions.” As part of Ukraine-related sanctions packages, the US and most of the EU froze Russia’s foreign assets, while the country was also cut off from the SWIFT interbank messaging and transfer system. These actions compromised euros and dollars, in Moscow’s opinion, and the switch to rubles was deemed necessary.

“There is an erosion of confidence in the dollar and the euro in the world, many countries doubt their reliability and develop settlements in national currencies,” the official said.Peskov also stressed that the payment mechanism changes will in no way hinder the ability of Russia’s gas buyers to pay for the commodity.