MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia could stop gas supplies to Europe amid an increase in energy prices triggered by the Iran-US war.
Oil and gas prices have surged following the United States and Israel’s strikes on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks on Gulf Arab neighbours.
The conflict has severely disrupted energy markets, paralysing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and forcing the shutdown of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production as well as Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refinery.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said rising oil prices were driven by what he described as “aggression against Iran” as well as Western restrictions on Russian oil exports.
He added that European gas prices were increasing as buyers were willing to pay higher prices for supplies due to developments in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking to Pavel Zarubin, a senior Kremlin correspondent for Russian state television, Putin also commented on European plans to impose a full ban on Russian pipeline gas imports by late 2027 and prohibit new short-term Russian LNG contracts from April 2026.
He suggested that it could be more advantageous for Russia to stop selling gas to Europe even sooner.
“Now other markets are opening up. And perhaps it would be more profitable for us to stop supplying the European market right now.
“This is not a decision; it is, in this case, what is called thinking out loud. I will definitely instruct the government to work on this issue together with our companies,” Putin said.
Russia holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves and is the second-largest oil exporter globally.
However, Moscow lost much of its lucrative European market after the continent moved to reduce its dependence on Russian energy following the 2022 war with Ukraine.
Russia once supplied around 40% of the European Union’s pipeline gas, but that figure fell to just 6% last year, according to EU data.
In 2007, Russia’s state-controlled gas giant Gazprom was the world’s third-largest company, with a market capitalisation exceeding $330 billion.
Today, its value has declined to about $40 billion.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia remains a reliable energy supplier but noted that the turmoil in global energy markets—triggered by the Iran crisis—has pushed buyers to pay significantly higher prices for gas supplies.
