EU says paying for Russian gas in rubles would breach sanctions, warns of 'full disruption'

Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia. Russia has insisted foreign countries pay for their gas in rubles, which the EU said would breach sanctions. © Dmitri Lovetsky/AP

The European Union warned member states to prepare for a breakdown in gas supplies from Russia as it insists Moscow's demand that imports be paid for in rubles would breach sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand that foreign companies pay for gas in rubles would breach European Union financial sanctions against Russia’s central bank, the bloc’s energy commissioner Kadri Simson told a news conference Monday after a meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels.