I don’t get why the ruble is back to its pre-war level. I don’t necessarily think it matters but I’m just confused because presumably a lot of foreign buyers of Russian goods and services who would bid up the ruble’s price are now cut off.
ELI5 please
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Also, why would Russia demand energy payments in rubles? Can't they just take dollars and convert them to rubles after the transaction, thereby having the same effect? What's the diff?
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No, if they take dollars the dollars will be stuck in their frozen foreign reserves.
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I mean, if they get paid dollars, I assume the dollars are delivered to them, right?
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Nope. There are different levels to inter-bank settlement but at the base level an international USD transfer results in a change in the Fed's record books for foreign central banks. The Russian central bank could ask for actual paper delivery if their account weren't frozen.
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This is true about central banks but the Russian Central Bank isnt selling natural gas to German buyers.
The reason for ruble payment is to support the ruble exchange rate.