Russia's Putin says Russia is not using gas as a weapon

Russia's President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that his country is not using gas as a weapon against Europe but instead they were ready to help ease Europe’s gas shortage.

​​“We are not using any weapons,” Putin told a panel moderated by CNBC in Russian Energy week conference. “Even during the hardest parts of the Cold War Russia regularly has fulfilled its contractual obligations and supplies gas to Europe,” he said.

Europe has been going through an energy crunch that led the prices of utilities to skyrocketed. The crunch has led to the European Union to call for an emergency meetings to find a solution. Meanwhile the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday called for tripling investment in renewables to steady markets and fight climate change.

"The world is not investing enough to meet its future energy needs ... transition‐related spending is gradually picking up, but remains far short of what is required to meet rising demand for energy services in a sustainable way," the IEA said.

Europe's ongoing gas shortage has  brought Russia under the spotlight, as the country accounts for a third of the region's supplies. Some European politicians have blamed Russia for the gas squeeze, pointing that the country is using gas as a weapon.

Russian officials have been denying the accusations. On Wednesday the president told the conference that it is political chatter, adding that the gas market was neither balanced nor predictable in Europe.