"This is totally not acceptable," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. “This is a kind of blackmailing from Putin. We continue to support Ukraine, and we distance ourselves from the crimes that Putin and Russia commit.”

Russian gas producer Gazprom has cut off gas supplies to Denmark's Orsted, the largest energy company in the country with a global vision of a world running entirely on green energy, and to Shell Energy, for its contract to supply gas to Germany.

Gazprom halted supplies for after Orsted and Shell refused to pay for their gas in Russian roubles, as Moscow demanded in response to Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Supplies have already been halted to Bulgaria, Poland and Finland for their refusal to pay in roubles.

Moscow offered customers receiving its natural gas to establish an account in dollars or euros at Russia’s third-largest bank, Gazprombank, then a second account in rubles. The importer would pay the gas bill in euros or dollars as specified in contracts and direct the bank to exchange the money for rubles.

Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen labeled this demand tantamount to "blackmail."

Russian state gas giant Gazprom confirmed Wednesday that it stopped gas supplies to Shell Energy Europe and Denmark’s Ørsted after the two companies refused to abide by the ruble-payment mechanism.

Denmark has been a net exporter of natural gas for many years, but because its Tyra field in the North Sea is being renovated, the country currently imports about 75% of its gas consumption via Germany. The Tyra field is expected to reopen in mid-2023.