Russia: Push to pay for gas in rubles not disrupting supply

BERLIN (AP) — Russian officials say their demand that natural gas be paid for in rubles doesn’t mean supplies will be immediately interrupted. Gas used for heating and electricity is still flowing from Russia to Europe on Friday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says “payments on shipments in progress right now must be made not this very day, but somewhere in late April, or even early May.” But a decree he signed says countries could pay foreign currency to Gazprombank, which would convert the money into rubles in a second account to pay for the gas. It gave Russian authorities and the bank 10 days to make arrangements.