Russian officials have said the country won’t immediately demand that buyers pay for its natural gas exports in rubles after President Vladimir Putin said earlier that “unfriendly” countries must do so. Putin issued an order March 23 for Russian gas to be purchased in rubles instead of dollars or euros, directing the Russian central bank, the government, and Russian energy giant Gazprom to present proposals by March 31. The move could serve to strengthen the value of the Russian currency, which has weakened in recent weeks amid Western sanctions in response to its invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Russia supplies about 40 percent of the European Union’s natural gas supply, and both the EU and the United Kingdom have increased their reliance on Russian gas supplies over the past decade. But when asked whether the payments should be in rubles starting from March 31, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said “absolutely no.” “As we discussed before, payments and delivery is a …