Using roubles to buy oil and gas could be a breach of supply contracts, European leaders have said.

That was Europe’s response to Vladimir Putin’s statement that ‘unfriendly’ countries would only be able to pay for Russian fossil fuels with rubles.

European Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen said: “This would be a unilateral decision and a clear breach of contract and it would be an attempt to circumvent the sanctions.

“We will not allow our sanctions to be circumvented… the time when energy could be used to blackmail us is over.”

Earlier today, Europe announced a gas deal with the US to curb reliance on Russian gas – the US will provide Europe an additional 15 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas.