The European Union’s top energy official has rejected a scheme by foreign companies to convert their payments for Russian oil and gas into rubles. EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said Monday the arrangement violates European Union sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Kadri Simson: “Paying rubles through the conversion mechanism managed by the Russian public authorities and a second dedicated account in Gazprombank is a violation of the sanctions and cannot be accepted.”

In Berlin, two government ministers said Monday Germany was prepared to reverse its opposition to a ban on Russian oil and is prepared to suffer the economic shock of an EU oil embargo. Germany continues to import about a quarter of the oil it consumes — and more than a third of its natural gas — from Russia.