Russia is not withholding gas supplies to Europe for political reasons, the country’s ambassador to the UK has said.
Andrei Kelin said that commitments to increase supply would take time to take effect.
Gas prices globally have soared as economies start to recover from the Covid pandemic.
The US has expressed concern that Russia may be using gas as a political weapon as household bills rise.
Russia only provides about 5% of the UK’s gas usage, but it accounts for about half of the EU’s natural gas imports, with most of the rest coming from Norway and Algeria.
Some analysts have suggested Russia could be holding back supplies to Europe to speed up approval of the newly built Nord Stream 2 pipeline running directly from Russia to Germany.
