Austria announced Wednesday that it was following Germany in activating the first level of its emergency plan to ensure gas supply over fears that Russia could cut off supplies if Western countries refused to make payments in rubles.
The government said the move involved the “strengthening of existing monitoring systems” which had been in place for weeks and that it would not involve measures such as rationing.
The reason was “Russia’s announcement that in future it would only accept payment for gas in rubles,” it added in a statement.
