The European Union's High Commissioner for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell stressed that if Russia wants to "cut off gas" from the European Union, "it will not wait for autumn or winter," considering at the same time that a "severe" disruption of supplies is unlikely.

"If Russia wants to cut off gas supplies, it will not wait until autumn or winter to do this, it will not allow us to fill our stocks during the summer," Borrell said in an interview Thursday with Spanish television channel TVA.

He added, "It will do this as soon as possible in order to avoid allowing us to have stocks in the winter that help us to continue," noting that Moscow's decision depends on "many factors", including "developments of the war on Ukraine."

However, Borrell considered it unlikely that there would be a "severe cut" of gas supplies "tomorrow" even if Moscow had already announced that gas shipments would be "lower than expected".

He explained that Russia wants to sell its gas and is looking for customers instead of the European Union, "because it knows that we will dispense with Russian gas completely in the end."

He pointed out that Moscow is hastily building other gas pipelines, "connecting them to other customers," adding that operating these pipelines "will take time."

Russia has sharply reduced gas shipments to Europe in recent weeks, especially through the "Nord Stream" pipeline, which was operating only at 20% of its capacity yesterday, Wednesday, justifying its move with the necessary maintenance work.

The Europeans reject the technical reasons behind the reduction in shipments, accusing Moscow of using gas as an economic and political weapon in the midst of the economic crisis caused by the Russian war in Ukraine.

In order to avoid gas shortages this winter, the 27 member states of the European Union agreed on Tuesday on a plan that states that each country will do "everything possible" to reduce its gas consumption by March 2023 by at least 15% compared to the average of the past five years. during the same period.

Russian gas accounted for about 40% of EU imports until last year.