Russia to halt gas supply to Poland, government told

The move will be a grave concern to those countries who are the most heavily dependent on Russian gas, such as Germany, but at a hastily arranged press conference, Polish ministers said they had sufficient supplies to weather an interruption while accusing Gazprom of a breach of contract.

The NGO Europe Beyond Coal has calculated that the EU has sent more than ¤41bn (£34.7bn) to Russia in payments for fossil fuels since it invaded Ukraine two months ago.

The extent to which Polish industry will be able to rely on this flow is yet to be seen, however, and other countries will be worried about the development.

Moscow had warned clients in March that they risked having their gas supplies cut unless they paid in roubles.

The European Commission had nevertheless said companies should continue to pay Gazprom in the currency agreed in their contracts, about 97% of which are in euros or dollars.

The move by the Kremlin comes as EU member states are drawing up a sixth wave of sanctions that could include imposing a ceiling on the price paid for Russian oil.