Germany announced an "early warning" state of an emergency plan, in anticipation of a deterioration in gas supplies against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
The country's deputy chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the warning target is a precautionary measure, and there is currently no shortage of supplies.
Habeck added that this emergency plan includes 3 warning levels, and at this stage the "security of supply" with gas is guaranteed by Germany.
The minister said that the tanks are currently 25% full, noting that stopping the delivery will have serious repercussions, but Germany will be able to confront them.
And Russian gas is very important to the European Union - which has been seeking since the beginning of Russian military operations on Ukraine - to find a way to reduce dependence on it.
European cooperation
In the same context, the European Commission said that member states are preparing to deal with the gas supply situation.
The Commission added that it was working closely with European Union countries to prepare for gas supply situations, after Germany launched an emergency plan to manage gas supplies in the event of disruptions to flows from Russia.
European Union Climate Policy Commissioner Frans Timmermans stressed that they are ready for such situations, and will work closely with member states so that everyone is prepared for any kind of situation, as he put it.
For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed - in a briefing before the Coordination Committee of Parliament - the need to increase economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He added that it is not possible to lift any sanctions in exchange for a mere cease-fire, as he put it.
Russia postpones the ruble payment mechanism
For its part, the Kremlin said that the process of moving to paying in rubles (the local currency) for Russian gas would take a long time, and that the new mechanism would not start tomorrow, as previously announced.
The Kremlin also said, in a statement, that the dollar's reputation has been greatly damaged, and that the only alternative is to expand the use of national currencies.
A Foreign Ministry statement said that Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart stressed, during their meeting in the Chinese "Anhui" province, the futility of illegal unilateral sanctions imposed on Moscow by the United States and its allies.
After meeting with his counterpart Wang Yi, Lavrov indicated that his country and Beijing are working to establish a new, just and multipolar world order.
For his part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that cooperation between the two countries has no limits, and that Beijing and Moscow seek to oppose what he called hegemony, without targeting any third party, in light of the West's continued imposition of sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine.