'Sanctions' mean no Russian gas for Britain, says Kremlin

London's sanctions against Moscow's Gazprombank, which is to transfer payments under Russian President Vladimir Putin's rubles-for-gas scheme, have led to Russia saying that it will be impossible for Britain to buy Russian gas.

Russian state-backed news agency Tass quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Saturday as saying that British sanctions against Gazprombank could lead to the loss of Russian gas supplies for the UK.

The UK added Gazprombank to its sanctions list in late March, as part of a wave of recent sanctions against Russia. At the time, Liz Truss said that there would be "no let-up" in punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Truss said on March 24 that Putin should be under no illusions - we are united and will continue to tighten the screws on the Russian economy so that he will fail in Ukraine.

Gazprombank will be required to accept euro and dollar payments for Russian gas. The bank will then convert the payments into rubles and handle the transactions according to Putin's orders.

Peskov said the gas payments would be due mid April or early May, rather than the April 1 deadline Putin stipulated.

2 April 2022