{"id":1107,"date":"2026-03-05T17:51:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T15:51:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=1107"},"modified":"2026-05-19T06:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T03:57:12","slug":"shock-in-europe-putin-threatens-to-cut-russian-gas-without-eu-ban-lift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/shock-in-europe-putin-threatens-to-cut-russian-gas-without-eu-ban-lift\/","title":{"rendered":"Shock in Europe: Putin Threatens to Cut Russian Gas Without EU Ban Lift"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Vladimir Putin warns he may halt natural gas exports to Europe, exploiting the unrest from the war in Iran and pressuring the EU to reconsider its ban.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the possibility of cutting off natural gas supplies to Europe, speaking to journalists on March 4.<\/strong> According to him, the gas shortage caused by the war in Iran opens new opportunities for Moscow to export to other markets.<\/p>\n

These statements come after the European Union\u2019s decision on January 26 to approve an extended ban on Russian gas imports. The plan envisions a gradual phase-out of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline gas, with a possible full stop by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s proposals for immediate action<\/h2>\n

Speaking to Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin<\/strong> on March 4, Putin suggested stopping gas exports before Europe implements the ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are planning to impose restrictions on the Russian gas market, including liquefied gas, in one month\u2026 and further restrictions, leading up to a full ban, within a year, in 2027,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yet, he emphasized that new markets are opening. \u201cAnd it may be more profitable for us to immediately stop supplies to the European market. To shift to those emerging markets and establish ourselves there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connection to developments in the Middle East<\/h2>\n

Putin directly referenced the escalating US-Iran war, which has plunged the Middle East into a new wave of violence and caused global increases in oil and gas prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cCustomers willing to buy the same natural gas at higher prices have appeared, in this case due to the events in the Middle East, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and so on,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis is natural; there is nothing political here \u2013 it is simply business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he claimed he was simply \u201cthinking aloud\u201d without political intentions, he linked the Kremlin\u2019s future decision to Europe\u2019s \u201cwrong policies,\u201d signaling pressure on the EU to revoke the ban.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely instruct the government to work on this issue together with our companies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

History of gas supplies<\/h2>\n

Moscow accounted for nearly half of Europe\u2019s gas consumption until 2022, when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.<\/p>\n

Its share dropped to less than one-fifth by 2023, but increased again by 18% in 2024, mainly due to rises in Russian LNG supplies. Subsequently, the EU developed new regulations throughout 2025 to restrict purchases of Russian gas.<\/p>\n

Russia accounted for only 6% of pipeline gas imports to Europe in 2025. Norway, the US, and Algeria have replaced Russia\u2019s position in the European gas market.<\/p>\n

\u201cRussia has always been and remains a reliable energy supplier to all our partners, including, by the way, European ones,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we will continue to work this way with those partners who are themselves reliable \u2013 for example, those in Eastern Europe, such as Slovakia and Hungary.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid Middle East turmoil, Putin warns he may halt gas exports to Europe, urging the EU to reconsider its embargo, while eyeing new, potentially more profitable markets beyond the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":1108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[159,991,214,992,222],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-1107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-european-union","tag-pavel-zarubin","tag-russia","tag-slovakia","tag-vladimir-putin","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1109,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1107\/revisions\/1109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1107"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=1107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}