MOSCOW, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Russia may stop supplying natural gas to European Union (EU) countries earlier than expected for reasons of commercial expediency, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview on Wednesday.

The EU countries "plan to introduce new restrictions on the purchase of Russian gas in a month, and in a year to tighten them to a complete ban," said Putin.

"Other markets are now opening up. Maybe it would be more profitable for us to stop supplies to the European market right now, and establish ourselves in new export directions," he said. "There is no political subtext in this."

At the same time, he noted that these are just "thoughts out loud," not a decision that has been made.

In January, the Council of the European Union approved a ban on imports of Russian pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the EU, with a full ban entering into force from January 2027 for LNG and from the autumn of 2027 for pipeline gas.

For pipeline gas and LNG combined, Russia accounted for around 13 percent of total EU gas imports in 2025, according to the council. ■