Berlin, Mar 31 (IANS): Russian President Vladimir Putin has told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that European partners can continue paying for Russian gas in euros, according to a statement published by the government in Berlin.

During a phone conversation on Wednesday, Putin said payments will continue to be made in euros and will be transferred as usual to Gazprombank and converted to rubles, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

Scholz did not agree to the procedure proposed by Putin during the conversation but asked for written information in order to understand the procedure more precisely, according to the statement.

Last week, Russia announced that it would only accept payment for gas imports in rubles from "unfriendly countries".

In response, the G7 rejected payments in rubles, citing reasons of contractual compliance.

Wednesday's statement stressed that the G7 agreement on making payments in euros or dollars still applies.

Earlier on Wednesday, Germany announced the first stage, or the early warning level, of its gas emergency plan, saying that it's for "precautionary purposes".