European countries on Monday suffered large cuts to their gas supplies as a bitter stand-off between Russia and Ukraine over gas prices intensified.

Supplies of Russian gas to Italy fell by 25 per cent, according to Eni, the country’s biggest oil and gas supplier. Deliveries of Russian gas to France dropped up to 30 per cent, Gaz de France said. Many central and eastern European countries, which depend heavily on gas from Russia, reported even larger declines.