(Bloomberg) -- European natural gas prices extended last week’s slump on signs that talks to stop the war in Ukraine may advance, easing tensions over potential Russian supply curbs. 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Mykailo Podolyak, said on Telegram that Russia has advanced from making ultimatums to listening carefully. Delegations have made some progress in negotiations, according to Leonid Slutsky, a senior Russian lawmaker and one of his country’s negotiators, the Interfax news agency reported. 

Any progress in the talks would give the gas market a breather after record prices and volatility in the past few weeks. Russian gas shipments crossing Ukraine also continued as normal on Monday.

Dutch front-month gas, the European benchmark, fell as much as 16% to 110.25 euros per megawatt-hour, the lowest since March 1. Prices crashed 32% last week. 

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