Russia increased its gas cuts to Europe, announcing that it will cut off supply to six “unfriendly” countries that have refused to accept Moscow’s roubles-for-gas payment programme.

The decision by Russia’s gas giant is the latest reprisal to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, deepening its economic struggle with Brussels and driving up European gas prices. find out more

On Tuesday, Gazprom said that it had completely cut off gas supplies to GasTerra, a Dutch gas broker. find out more

It later said that, as of June 1, gas shipments to Denmark’s Orsted (ORSTED.CO) and Shell Energy (SHEL.L) for its contract on gas deliveries to Germany will be halted after both companies failed to make rouble payments.

The declarations come after European Union leaders agreed on Monday to limit Russian oil imports by 90% by the end of the year, the bloc’s harshest response to the invasion yet.