European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that it was a likely scenario that there could be a full cut-off of Russian gas, as reported by Reuters.

"Russia is blackmailing us. Russia is using energy as a weapon. And therefore, in any event, whether it's a partial, major cut-off of Russian gas or a total cut-off of Russian gas, Europe needs to be ready," von der Leyen told a news conference.

EU executive proposed that members could voluntarily lower their gas usage by 15% until March to ease the pressure.

Market reaction

These comments seem to be having a negative impact on market sentiment. As of writing, EUR/USD was down 0.3% on the day at below 1.0200 and the Euro Stoxx 600 Index was losing 0.2%.