Russia on Saturday stopped the supply of natural gas to Finland, days after the Scandinavian country and Sweden submitted their official bids to join NATO.

While such a move by Russia had been expected for some time now, Russian energy giant Gazprom confirmed that supply had been halted, saying that it “completely stopped gas deliveries” to neighbouring Finland.

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Following Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s decision to invade Ukraine on February 24, Moscow had demanded that “unfriendly countries,” including European Union (EU) member states, pay for gas in rubles in a bid to bypass Western sanctions designed to hurt Russia’s economy.

However, like many countries and companies, Finland’s energy corporation Gasum rejected Russia’s demands, declaring on Tuesday that it would take the matter to arbitration and try and win the case by any “means available.”

While Russia’s decision to halt gas supply to Finland will certainly cause some disruptions in the Scandinavian country, it is not expected to cause any major issues.

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Natural gas accounts for around eight percent of Finland’s total energy needs, and the country is already looking to alternate sources of natural gas to offset the deficit caused by Moscow’s decision to stop supplies.

The Finnish government on Friday announced that it had signed a 10-year lease agreement for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal ship with US-based energy firm Excelerate Energy, and it is understood that similar efforts to source gas from other places is underway.

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With both Sweden and Finland on the fast-track to join NATO, a historic reversal of their long-held stance of military non-alignment, it remains to be seen what other measures Moscow resorts to.

While Putin had earlier said that Sweden and Finland merely joining NATO posed no threat to Russia, he promised that any expansion of military infrastructure on Scandinavian soil would “certainly” provoke a response, the nature of which remains unclear to this day.