Russia is open to being paid for its energy products in gold, local currencies, and even Bitcoin, Pavel Zavalny, head of the energy committee in the lower house of the Russian Legislature, said during a March 24 press conference. The minister pointed to China and Turkey as “friendly” nations who have not yet applied sanctions on Russia for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the BBC reported. As such, these two nations can be allowed to buy Russian energy supplies in their local currencies. “We have been proposing to China for a long time to switch to settlements in national currencies for rubles and yuan. With Turkey, it will be lira and rubles,” Zavalny said. “You can also trade bitcoins.” Zavalny’s comments came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin asked “unfriendly” countries to buy his nation’s gas and oil in rubles, an announcement that caused gas prices to climb and drove up …