He expressed his opinion on the air of the Espresso TV channel.
"Putin is resorting to gas blackmail of Europe. Russia is demanding the lifting of sanctions in exchange for an increase in gas supplies to Europe. Also, one of Putin's conditions for European countries is to refuse military aid to Ukraine. This is because he has one goal - destruction of Ukraine. And in this situation, only the Europeans are to blame. After all, they allowed the Kremlin ‘gopniks’ to talk to them like that. For some reason, at the beginning of this war, the Europeans thought that they would write a program according to which they would gradually give up Russian gas. However, they did not take into account that Putin would not participate in their program. Putin does not need European money for Russian gas and oil. He wants to restore the USSR - to seize Ukraine, Belarus and the countries of Central Asia. He does not care about European money," explained Portnikov.
The journalist emphasized that if Europe did not depend on Russian gas, it could act against Russia more radically.
"Europe has become dependent on Russian gas. If it hadn't happened, European countries would have behaved more confidently towards Russia. Therefore, now difficult times are awaiting the Europeans. There will be a permanent economic crisis, energy shock, unemployment and a decline in the economy. Putin chose the moment very well. After the pandemic, the European economy has only begun to recover and now Europe will feel a new blow. This, of course, will affect Ukraine as well. Since the West will not have great opportunities to help us," he added.