World News | Kremlin: Rubles for Gas Switch Will Take Time

Moscow, Mar 30 (AP) The Kremlin says that it will take some time to switch payments for Russian gas to rubles.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to make the necessary arrangements by Friday to ensure that European customers pay for Russian gas in rubles rather than Western currencies. The West has rejected the demand.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that the switch is going to be a “drawn-out process”. He didn't give a specific timeframe.

Peskov noted that there is always a gap between supplies and payments in the gas trade. He said the government will soon release the details of the new proposed payment scheme.

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Copenhagen: Norway says it has donated a further 2,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against the Russian invasion, adding to protective equipment and about 2,000 anti-tank weapons that were sent previously.

Norwegian Defence Minister Odd Roger Enoksen said if Ukraine succeeds in repelling Russia's attack, "it will both ensure Ukrainian sovereignty and help maintain the norm of peaceful conflict resolution and respect for borders in Europe.”

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Kyiv: A senior Ukrainian official says the Russian military has continued shelling areas around the Ukrainian capital.

Oleksandr Pavliuk, the head of the Kyiv region military administration, said Wednesday that there were 30 Russian shellings of the residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the Bucha, Brovary and Vyshhorod regions around the capital over the previous 24 hours.

The barrage came despite a Russian pledge to reduce military activities around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv after Tuesday's talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul.

Olexander Lomako, the secretary of Chernihiv city council, said in a voice message to The Associated Press that military action increased in intensity overnight and “the city was bombed, shelled by artillery and heavy weapons,” with a library and a shopping mall among places that were hit.

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Rome: Italy is renewing its offer to be a guarantor should any peace deal be reached between Russia and Ukraine that involves a neutrality clause.

Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Wednesday that Italy “will put at disposal all our efforts, competence and experience" so that it can made a “fundamental contribution" to an agreement.

He told reporters in Berlin, where he was attending a meeting on energy, that Italy was willing to be a guarantor for any neutrality mechanism that might be part of a strategy to end the war.

Earlier this week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted that he had expressed his appreciation to Italian Premier Mario Draghi for Rome's “willingness to join the creation of a system of security guarantees” for Ukraine. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)