The energy package due this week may include measures to address the increasing household costs and energy poverty.

European gas prices were trading higher early May 12, with the TTF month-ahead price up at Eur105/MWh ($109.72/MWh) as of 0815 GMT, according to ICE data.

Germany, Russia's top client in Europe, said some subsidiaries of Gazprom Germania were receiving no gas because of the sanctions.

The monthly import profile for April, which following European wholesale front-month trade in March, saw sourcing from all parts of the world intensify, with Europe comfortably receiving its highest-ever volume for a single month. This was, however, paid for at a high price.

Global LNG import volumes reached 372.3 million tons, a rise of 16.2 million tons from 2020,

Moscow has imposed sanctions on the owner of the Polish part of the Yamal pipeline that carries Russian gas to Europe, as well as Gazprom's former German unit, whose subsidiaries help meet Europe's gas consumption.

Requests via the Velke Kapusany border point in Slovakia were around 512,056 megawatt hours (MWh) per day, down from 856,922 MWh per day earlier on Thursday, data from Slovakian operator TSO Eustream showed.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed for the USA and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan signed for Armenia, during Mirzoyan’s visit to Washington.

Likhachev and Grossi “paid particular attention to the state of affairs at the Zaporozhye NPP, including taking into account the IAEA Director General’s intention to organise a technical mission of the IAEA specialists to this NPP”. Likhachev “stressed ensuring safe operation of nuclear installations in the broadest sense possible was an absolute priority for the Russian side and for the Russian nuclear industry”.

The plant, using Westinghouse AP1000 reactors, would be Poland’s first NPP.

Gas distributors in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia are planning to open rouble accounts at Gazprombank in Switzerland in order to satisfy a Russian requirement for payments in its own currency

"To pay in rubles -- if this is not foreseen in the contract -- is a breach of our sanctions. We have about 97% of all contracts that explicitly stipulate payments in euros or dollars," she said.

An oil price cap is one of a number of proposals being discussed as EU ambassadors prepare for talks in coming days about more sanctions on Moscow — the sixth such package since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine two months ago.

Стороны обсудили широкий круг вопросов торгово-экономического сотрудничества, уделив особое внимание сферам промышленности, энергетики, транспорта, сельского хозяйства и продовольственной безопасности, межрегиональному взаимодействию.

"As of the end of the business day on April 26, Gazprom Export had not received payments for gas supplies in April from Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (Poland) in rubles," Gazprom said in a statement.