Russia's Novak says government will soon discuss stopping gas exports to Europe

MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - The Russian government will meet soon to discuss stopping gas exports to Europe, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia could halt supplies right now amid a spike in energy prices triggered by the Iran crisis.

He linked the possible decision - which he said had not been taken yet - to the European Union's desire to ban purchases of Russian gas and liquefied natural gas.

"We will meet soon, as instructed by the President, to discuss the current situation with energy companies and possible transport routes for our energy supplies," Novak, who is Putin's point man on energy issues, told reporters.

"We will discuss this with our energy companies soon and see how to deploy Russian resources most profitably."

Russian gas sales to Europe have fallen sharply since 2022 because of sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.

However, it is the second-largest supplier of LNG to the European Union, and also still sells gas via the Black Sea TurkStream pipeline to countries including Hungary, Slovakia and non-EU member Serbia.

Novak said Russian gas accounted for more than 12% of European supply.

According to Eurostat, Russia's share of EU imports of pipeline gas dropped from around 40% in 2021 to around 6% in 2025. For pipeline gas and LNG combined, Russia accounted for around 13% of total EU gas imports in 2025.

Russia's share of EU imports of LNG decreased to 16% in 2025 from 21% in 2021, according to Eurostat data.