Look at the contracts. If they say payment is to be made in dollars or whatever and the decree specifies payments shall be made in rubles then that is a material breach of contract. That is on Putin not the buyers.
This has long term implications regarding the reliability of Russia as a supplier. If purchasers think that Russia may try to change the terms of the contract arbitrarily they will think twice about signing contracts with the Russians.
So where in the contract does it say the west can seize Russian assets?
And let me know as soon as you do.
If purchasers think that Russia may try to change the terms of the contract arbitrarily they will think twice about signing contracts with the Russians.
Russia may not have changed the terms of the contract.
They have been sanctioned for years, may have seen this coming and written current contracts accordingly.
You will know when YOU read the contracts, I suspect Putin has.
There are some reasonable expectations thT Russia would have in a contract. One of which being, if you paye money you can’t just freeze it such that I cannot use it. His point is completely valid whether or not you like him. Imagine giving the bank a check that couldn’t be cashed. That seems to be the situation here. Since Russia owns the commodity it seems reasonable that they would make such a decision.