Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a study on the sudden halt of natural gas supplies to Europe, signaling a potential shake-up in global energy markets. The move could see Russia pivoting to emerging markets, where demand for energy is on the rise.
In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin on Rossiya 1’s “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin,” Putin suggested the shift could be more profitable amid Europe’s efforts to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
“Maybe it would be more profitable for us to stop supplies to the European market right now, move to markets that are opening up, and gain a foothold there?” Putin said.
The proposal is not yet official policy but will be examined by the Russian government and energy firms. “If they’re going to shut us out in a month or two anyway, wouldn’t it be better to stop ourselves now?” he added, framing the idea as a pragmatic, rather than political, move.
Putin also issued stern warnings toward Kyiv, accusing Ukraine of planning sabotage on the TurkStream and Blue Stream gas pipelines and labeling a recent attack on a Russian gas tanker in the Mediterranean as terrorism.
He downplayed Europe’s rising gas prices as unrelated to Russian supply cuts, attributing them instead to global energy market dynamics and restrictions on Russian oil exports.
Highlighting the business-driven nature of the energy sector, Putin noted that U.S. companies are likely to follow demand wherever it is strongest, not political calculations.
As tensions simmer between Moscow and Brussels over energy, Putin’s comments underscore Russia’s leverage and hint at a potentially dramatic reorientation of the global gas market.
