Will not let Russia intimidate, says Biden after gas supplies cut off to two EU nations

Washington: US President Joe Biden said on Friday Washington will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of sanctions.

This comes after Russian energy giant Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday after they refused to pay for gas in rubles. "Yesterday, Russia threatened two of our allies with a cut off of energy supplies. Let me be clear: We will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of sanctions. And we will not allow them to use their oil to avoid consequences for their aggression," Biden said in a tweet.

The US President said that Washington is working with other nations to help their "European allies threatened by Russia with gas blackmail."

"We are working with other nations -- like South Korea, Japan, and Qatar -- that support our effort to help our European allies threatened by Russia with gas blackmail meet their energy needs in other ways. Aggression will not win. Threats will not win," he said in another tweet.

On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree stipulating that all contracts for gas supplies with companies registered in "unfriendly" countries be settled in rubles.

Media reports said some European gas buyers have already paid for supplies in rubles as Russia demanded.

On Wednesday, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russian energy giant Gazprom's decision to suspend gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland is yet another attempt at blackmail.

"The announcement by Gazprom that it is unilaterally stopping delivery of gas to customers in Europe is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail. This is unjustified and unacceptable. And it shows once again the unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier," von der Leyen had said in a statement.