Russia's currency rises following reports Putin will require hostile nations to pay for Russian gas using rubles

• Russia's ruble jumped against the US dollar Wednesday as Russia's president reportedly orders "unfriendly" nations to purchase its gas using rubles.
• Western sanctions have cut off Moscow from billions of dollars in foreign currency reserves.

Russia's beleaguered ruble spiked up against the US dollar Wednesday after news reports said Russian President Vladimir Putin wants countries imposing war-time sanctions against it to pay for Russian gas using its currency.

The ruble climbed as much as 10% against the greenback following the reports, trading just above 101 against the dollar. The ruble's value has slumped by more than 20% versus the dollar this year, with investors driving it below a penny after Moscow's attack last month.

"I have decided to implement a set of measures to transfer payments for our gas supplies to unfriendly countries into Russian rubles," Putin said in televised remarks Wednesday, according to The Moscow Times newspaper.

He has given the country's central bank and government officials one week to sort out how Moscow will take in ruble payments from gas importers, Interfax news agency reported.

European Union member states and the US have imposed a range of sanctions against Moscow for launching a war against Ukraine on February 24. The sanctions had essentially cut Moscow off from about of its $640 billion worth of foreign currency reserves.

For European gas importers, Putin's move would require them to buy hundreds of millions of euros' worth of rubles each day to pay for gas deliveries, The Moscow Times reported, which would usher in the hard currency that Moscow needs.

Putin said Russia will supply gas in line with volumes and price-formation principles stipulated in contracts, Interfax reported.

Gas from Russia makes up about 40% of total consumption in Europe, and EU gas imports from Russia have run between 200 million to 800 million euros ($880 million) a day during 2022, Reuters reported in also noting European and British wholesale gas prices shot up around 15% to 20% on Wednesday.