A standoff between Russia and the world’s leading democratic economies looms large, as the G7 refuses to accede to Moscow’s demand that Europe pay for Russian natural gas in rubles, and Russia counters that it is not going to send its gas to Europe for free.

President Vladimir Putin announced last Wednesday that Russia henceforth will only accept payment in rubles for its gas supplies to “unfriendly” countries.

The move serves the dual purpose of strengthening the ruble, whose value plummeted after sanctions were imposed on Russia following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and of pressuring European governments reliant on Russian energy supplies to undercut their own sanctions.