Russian gas keeps flowing to Europe despite Putin's deadline to pay in roubles

Putin signed an order setting a Friday deadline for buyers from "unfriendly" countries to pay for gas using roubles

Russian gas was still flowing to Europe on Friday despite a deadline set by President Vladimir Putin to cut it off unless customers start paying in roubles, Moscow's strongest threat to retaliate for sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, Qazet.az reports.

Negotiations aimed at ending the war were set to resume by video link, with Ukrainian forces making more advances on the ground in a counterattack that has repelled the Russians from Kyiv and broken the sieges of some cities in the north and east.

After failing to capture a single major Ukrainian city in five weeks of war, Russia says it has shifted its focus to the southeast, where it has backed separatists since 2014.

The area includes the port of Mariupol, scene of the war's worst humanitarian emergency, where the United Nations believes thousands of people have died after more than a month under Russian siege and relentless bombardment.

The Red Cross had hoped to begin evacuations from the city on Friday with the first aid convoy, but Ukraine said Russia had prevent buses from reaching it on Thursday.

Western sanctions imposed over the war have cut off Russia from much of world trade, but exceptions have been carved out for oil and gas.

Putin signed an order setting a Friday deadline for buyers from "unfriendly" countries to pay for gas using roubles or be cut off, a demand Western customers have rejected as an attempt to rewrite contracts that call for payment in euros. Germany, the biggest buyer, called it "blackmail", and had warned this week of a potential emergency if supplies were curtailed.