Ukraine’s foreign minister on Thursday called on EU countries to refrain from accepting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand to pay for Russian oil and gas in rubles.

- If any EU country bows to Putin’s humiliating demands to pay for oil and gas in rubles, it will be like helping Ukraine with one hand and helping Russians kill Ukrainians with the other - Dymytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

- I urge relevant countries to make a wise and responsible choice - he added.

On Thursday, Putin said he instructed the government to transfer into rubles payments for Russia's energy resources coming from "unfriendly countries" which include all EU members.


Speaking at a meeting with the government in Moscow, the Russian president said that after the US and EU sanctioned the Russian state debt in dollars and euros, which in economic terms means they announced a default on their financial liabilities to Russia, there is no longer any reason to continue to use these currencies.

As Putin's remarked fueled oil supply concerns, global crude prices surged over 5% on Thursday.