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Putin has just floated the possibility of ending Russian gas supplies to the European Union immediately, rather than waiting until 2027 when Brussels plans to fully phase out Russian gas: PUTIN (my translation): "As for gas, the surge in prices on the European market isn’t even directly connected to any restrictions on supplies right now. The main suppliers haven’t reduced their volumes. Who are the main suppliers today? Algeria, the United States, Norway and Russia to some extent. None of them has cut deliveries to the EU. "But prices have already jumped to around $700. Why? Because of the overall situation on global markets, including oil markets, and in this case the gas market as well. It’s the general global situation. There are now buyers willing to pay more for natural gas, particularly because of what’s happening in the Middle East, disruptions to shipping routes, and so on. "When premium buyers appear who are ready to pay higher prices, then some traditional suppliers to the EU market, I’m sure of it, including American companies, will naturally go where they can earn more. That’s completely normal. There’s nothing political about it. It’s just business. So, once again, this is the result of mistakes made by the EU authorities over many years. "That brings me to something I’ve been thinking about. As was mentioned earlier, they’re [the EU] planning to introduce new restrictions on Russian gas supplies in about a month. The deadline is the 24th, and from the 25th new limits will come into force. And then in 2027 they plan even further restrictions, up to a complete ban. At the same time, other markets are opening up. So maybe it would make more sense for us to stop supplying gas to the EU ourselves and move to those new markets, and establish ourselves there. "Again, I want to stress: there’s no political motive here. But if they’re going to close the market to us in a month or two anyway, maybe it’s better to leave now and focus on countries that are reliable partners. That said, this isn’t a decision. I’m just thinking out loud. I’ll ask the government to look into it together with our companies."