A good step from russia to pressure europe, because of its high dependence on russian gas, russia dared to attack ukraine, and now russia is asking for payment in rubles so that europe will have to follow these rules or they will lose gas supply.
And what did Putin achieve? A large majority of European countries refused to pay Russia for oil and gas supplies in rubles. But the EU countries appreciated the blackmail of Russia and decided to quickly abandon Russian gas and oil forever. Putin should not have gone for such blackmail, because in the long run Russia will lose a lot from him.
Moreover, the sixth package of sanctions has already been practically prepared, which will be directed against the Russian Sberbank, and a complete embargo on oil and gas from Russia will also be introduced. Putin blackmailed. Europe completely refuses oil and gas from Russia. If these sanctions are introduced, the Russian economy faces a complete collapse.
Gazprom's long-term contracts are concluded in the post-paid format for each billing period. The next payments for gas under some existing contracts should be made this week. In the absence of payment for gas, after the grace period of five days, gas supplies will be terminated. Very soon we will find out who has the big balls in this story.