Putin can escalate missile strikes on Ukrainian gas infrastructure, including underground storages, but he needs to be wary of Trump's ambitions for expanding the U.S. production of oil and gas, which are a major threat to Russia's export revenues.

Ukraine has halted the transportation of Russian gas supplies through the country after a prewar transit deal expired at the end of last year, the nation’s energy minister confirmed. Minister of Energy of Ukraine Herman Halushchenko said Wednesday morning on the Telegram messaging app that the transit was stopped “in the interests of national security.

Russia's energy giant Gazprom said on Wednesday that gas exports via Ukraine to Europe had been halted from 08:00 Moscow time (0500 GMT) as the transit deal has expired. The shutdown of Russia's oldest gas route to Europe ends a decade of fraught relations sparked by Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014.

Ukraine has not simply stopped the transit of Russian gas. In doing so, Russia has been deprived of one of its last levers of influence over Europe, according to Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs,

MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -Russian natural gas exports via Soviet-era pipelines running through Ukraine to Europe were halted in the early hours of New Year's Day as a transit deal expired and warring Moscow and Kyiv have failed to reach an agreement to continue the flows.