MOSCOW
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that he will instruct the government to consider halting deliveries of Russian energy resources to Europe and redirecting them to Asia.
Speaking in an interview with Russian broadcaster VGTRK in Moscow, he emphasized that Europe itself plans to completely refuse Russian energy resources.
“They are still, as they just said, planning to introduce restrictions on the purchase of Russian gas, including liquefied natural gas, in a month, with the last day being the 24th, starting on the 25th. And in a year, in 2027, further restrictions up to a complete ban,” he said.
Putin added: “But now, other markets are opening up, and perhaps it would be more advantageous for us to stop supplies to the European market right now, to move to those markets that are opening up and establish ourselves there.”
The Russian president emphasized that there is “no political subtext” in his proposal.
“This is, in this case, so to speak, thinking out loud. I will definitely instruct the government to work on this issue together with our companies,” he said.
Putin noted that Russia has always been and remains “a reliable supplier of energy resources for all our partners, including, by the way, for European ones.”
“And we will continue to work precisely in this mode with those partners who are themselves our reliable counterparties—with such countries in Eastern Europe, for example, as Slovakia and Hungary,” he said.
According to his assessment, the current energy crisis was provoked by “the erroneous policy of the European authorities in the energy sector, their abuse of the ‘green’ agenda,” and sanctions against Russia.
Putin pointed out that no one has cut supplies, yet prices have soared.
“Why? Because of the overall situation on world markets, including oil markets, and in this case gas markets. Because clients have appeared who are ready to purchase the same natural gas at higher prices, in this case due to the events in the Middle East, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and so on,” he said, referring to the developments regarding the ongoing US-Israel offensive on Iran.
He noted that in this situation, if premium buyers appear, then some traditional current suppliers—American companies—will certainly move from Europe to where they pay more.
Putin described Tuesday’s attack on a Russian gas tanker in the Mediterranean Sea as “a terrorist” act, noting that such assaults also contribute to price surges.
A Russian liquefied natural gas tanker was attacked near Malta’s territorial waters, Russia’s Transport Ministry said Wednesday, blaming unmanned Ukrainian boats for the strike.
“It turns out that the Kyiv regime is actually biting the hand that feeds it, namely the hand of the EU. The EU provides endless assistance to the Kyiv regime—with weapons and money. And the Kyiv regime creates one problem after another for the EU,” he argued.
Putin then claimed that Kyiv, with the support of some Western special services, is preparing to blow up the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines.
“We have already informed our Turkish friends about this issue. We will see what happens in this area, but this is a very dangerous game, especially today,” he said.
