The market is treating the Russian demand to be paid in rubles for gas as bluff but RIA is carrying comments from "Russian lawmaker Abramov" who says that a refusal to pay in rubles will 'definitely' lead to a halt in supplies.
The thinking is that Russia can't afford not to export gas but by the same token, I'm not sure Europe can avoid a brutal recession without it.
Separately, Russian Railways said that freight shipments to Finland have been halted. That's an interesting development and one product that comes to mind is wood pulp, or which Finland is a major global processor.
