OREANDA-NEWS The head of the Italian Energy, Grid and Environment Regulator Stefano Bessegini said that natural gas supplies from Russia to the European Union may stop in May, the Corriere della Sera newspaper quoted him as saying, Gazeta.ru reported. 

In his opinion, in this case there may be a risk of incomplete filling of storage facilities. He added that it is necessary to consider what can be learned from the agreements that Italy has already made and is trying to make now.

For the European Commission, the system of payment for supplies in rubles proposed by Russia violates the sanctions. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said that Rome cannot pay for Russian gas supplies in rubles.

In late March, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree requiring companies from "unfriendly countries" to open ruble accounts at Gazprombank in order to purchase Russian natural gas. The head of state noted that the U.S. is trying to move Europe to expensive U.S. liquefied natural gas, thus undermining the competitiveness of European companies.