Europe’s gas woes a headache for Asian countries

Europe maintains it won’t blink first in the staring contest with Russia over gas supplies.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has asked member nations not to bend before Russian demands that customers settle their gas bills in rubles, not US dollars or euros. Unfortunately, Germany and other large importers face heavy economic and social costs should they choose not to give in to President Vladimir Putin’s ruble rider.

Still, they must thwart his aims of bolstering his war effort, shoring up the Russian currency, weakening European solidarity, and undermining sanctions imposed for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Putin’s risky move – Russia could lose its biggest customers who generate the revenues that underwrite the war – has sent Europe into a tizzy.

Gas prices shot up after Moscow last week halted supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, two European Union members who refused to pay in rubles. They are, however, protected by high gas stocks they already hold and by assurances of supplies from others.

Europe’s largest importer Germany, which sources up to 55 percent of its gas supplies from Russia, may find itself in Mr. Putin’s cross-hairs next.

Berlin is likely to agree to Moscow’s offer that it remits euros to a Russian bank which will convert them into rubles. The European Union’s second-largest buyer Italy and others like Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia are also likely to comply.