Putin tells Europe to pay for gas in rubles

President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday Russia will only accept payments in rubles for gas deliveries to "unfriendly countries", which include all EU member states, after Moscow was hit by unprecedented sanctions over Ukraine.

Immediately after his announcement, the ruble -- which has plummeted since the start of the Ukraine conflict -- strengthened against the dollar and euro.

"I have decided to implement a set of measures to transfer payment for our gas supplies to unfriendly countries into Russian rubles," Putin said during a televised government meeting.

He added, however, that Russia will continue supplying the volume of gas outlined in its contracts.

Putin ordered Russia's central bank to implement the new payment system within a week, saying it must be "transparent" and will involve the purchase of rubles on Russia's domestic market. 

Putin also hinted that other Russian exports may be affected.

"It is clear that delivering our goods to the European Union, the United States and receiving dollars, euros, other currencies no longer makes sense to us," Putin said. 

Ukraine was quick to denounce Russia's "economic war" on the EU and its efforts to "strengthen the...