Kadri Simson, the European commissioner for energy, said yesterday the Kremlin's demands had to be rebuffed despite the risks of an interruption to supply.
Last week, the Russian energy company Gazprom suspended flows of gas to Poland and Bulgaria and threatened the supply of other countries if they followed Warsaw and Sofia in failing to pay for fuel in the Russian currency.
Following a meeting of EU energy ministers, Simson said all had accepted that paying in roubles through the mechanism set out by Russia would breach sanctions imposed by the bloc after the invasion of Ukraine.
She added that she had not heard of any European energy company that was preparing to comply with Moscow despite suggestions to the contrary from Gazprom and firms such as Mol of Hungary.
Simson said: “Many European energy companies are due to make the next payment to Gazprom in midMay and are trying to understand better what they should do.
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