Putin Threatens EU to Respond to Gas Price Limit

The European Union supported the initiative of the G7 to limit the price of Russian gas. Putin responded sharply. Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to completely cut off energy supplies to the European Union if a cap on Russian gas prices is introduced. He said this during a speech at the Eastern Economic Forum on Wednesday, September 7. According to him, such a decision would violate contractual obligations. “There are contractual obligations, supply contracts, and if any decisions of a political nature that contradict the contracts are made, we simply will not implement them,” Putin said. He added that Russia may cut off all energy supplies. “We will not supply anything at all if it contradicts our interests, in this case economic ones. We will not supply gas, oil, coal or heating oil,” Putin said. Earlier it was reported that the EU may limit the price of Russian gas and introduce the “pricing red zones” for the most affected countries. The debate of the bloc’s energy ministers will be held on September 9. According to media reports, the European Commission proposes to limit the cost of Russian gas to 50 euros per megawatt-hour – five times lower than at present.