When asked about the refusal of some European countries to start paying for Russian gas in roubles, a Kremlin spokesperson said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin has ordered Gazprom to accept payment in roubles.

"Gazprom needs to work out how that can be done from a technical and logistical point of view," the spokesperson added. "Novatek was not instructed to accept payments in roubles."

Market reaction

The USD/RUB pair is pushing lower on Friday and was last seen losing 0.65% on a daily basis at 96.3630.