Moscow stopped sending gas to Poland, but Italy and France are plugging the gap with rerouted Russian supplies, says Gazprom

• Despite Russia halting natural gas deliveries last week, Poland is still getting supplies.
• A Gazprom spokesperson said buyers in Italy and France are ordering Russian gas and sending it to Poland.

Poland is still receiving Russian gas despite being cut off last week by Moscow for failing to meet its demand that payments be made in rubles.

That's because Italy and France have stepped in to supply Poland, according to Russian energy giant Gazprom. Spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told Bloomberg that buyers in Italy and France are ordering Russian gas and passing it on via pipelines in Poland.

Russian gas is making its way to Poland via so-called virtual reverse flows, Kupriyanov said, referring to the practice of grid operators reversing the direction of gas in a pipeline.

But Gazprom has warned previously that it would retaliate against nations that supply its gas to Poland, Bloomberg reported, though it remains unclear what that response will look like.

Last week, Moscow cut off Poland and Bulgaria from its natural gas, saying both countries failed to pay for supplies using rubles. European gas prices skyrocketed amid concerns that the Kremlin could similarly target other nations.

Since then energy prices have continued to surge in Europe and spiked Wednesday after the European Union proposed a total ban on Russian oil imports early that it would be phased in over six months.