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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at the plenary session of the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Moscow, that Europe is inflicting damage on itself by turning away from Russian energy, arguing that abandoning Russian gas is hitting the continent's industry and social sector. The remarks followed an interview broadcast by Russian state television on October 25.
In that October 25 VGTRK interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, Putin rejected accusations that Moscow is behind mass protests in major European cities, calling the claim "clear overkill." He said he was surprised at first because the initial European reaction blamed the United States, "their main ally and protector" across the Atlantic, before leaders returned to what he called traditional accusations against Russia.
He said the pattern showed weakness and an inability to take responsibility: leaders do not analyse events or look for causes, but shift blame onto someone else — first the US, now Russia.
The causes he named were public debt, budget deficits, declining industrial production, energy policy and migration pressures. He pointed to countries where public debt exceeds 100% of GDP, citing Italy, and to energy prices, the cost of living and housing burdens as the main issues driving protests in France, Spain and Italy.
On energy specifically, Putin argued that European governments chose to reduce their reliance on Russian supplies, and that the decision damaged their own economic interests. He said attempts to exclude Russia from the global gas market impose high costs on consumers, companies and households, and he applied the Russian saying "don't dig a pit for someone else, or you may fall into it yourself" to EU countries. Russia, he has maintained, never refused to supply energy — Europe refused to buy — and Russian LNG still holds around 20% of the European market.
The accusations Putin was answering included French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot's October 13 claim that "enemies of democracy" exploit grievances, and similar "hybrid war" claims. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on October 19 called such accusations absurd. The EU, for its part, plans to phase out Russian oil and gas imports by January 1, 2028, to stop financing the war in Ukraine. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has said Putin weaponised energy and blackmailed member states. Europe's purchases of Russian gas are down to about 13% of its needs this year from about 45% before the full-scale invasion, though Hungary and Slovakia still import Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline and oppose the phase-out.
The claims about Europe's economic performance and the causes of the protests are Putin's own assessment; they have not been independently established by his remarks alone.