Putin says any Belarusian move to cut gas flows risks hitting ties

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a ceremony launching the Amur gas processing plant managed by Gazprom company via video link outside Moscow, Russia June 9, 2021. Sputnik/Sergei Ilyin/Kremlin via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Belarus had not consulted him before raising the possibility of cutting Russian natural gas flows to Europe, adding that such a move would risk harming ties between Minsk and its key ally Moscow.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened on Thursday to retaliate against any new European Union sanctions against Minsk over a migrant standoff on the Belarus-EU border, suggesting he could halt the transit of gas and other goods via Belarus.