European benchmark natural gas prices rose by 13% on Tuesday, following a general upward trend in commodity quotations, after President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian army on Monday evening to “keep the peace” in the pro-Russian separatist territories in Ukraine that have been deemed by Kremlin as independent, reports Bloomberg.

Even if there are no details on the number of soldiers or when Russian soldiers will arrive in the pro-Russian separatist territories of Ukraine, a conflict could disrupt Russian natural gas supplies to Europe, one-third of which normally pass through pipelines from Ukraine. In addition, sanctions on Moscow could disrupt energy transactions and reduce Russia’s ability to trade in foreign exchange, disrupting commodity markets, from oil and gas to metals and agricultural products.

“This means higher gas prices for a longer periods of time, as the market has been very tense for several months. Some sanctions imposed by the US and the EU may follow,” said Katja Yafimava, an analyst at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, according to Agerpres.

At the gas hub in Amsterdam, where reference prices for natural gas in Europe are set, futures for next month rose to 82 euro for a Megwat-hour on Tuesday morning. Subsequently, the quotations dropped slightly to 80 euro for a Megwat-hour, but even so, the price is 10% higher than the one registered on Monday evening.

EU ambassadors will meet on Tuesday to discuss possible sanctions in response to Putin’s decree, although it could take several days for a package of measures to be finalized. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Russia’s recognition of independence for the pro-Russian separatist territories a flagrant violation of international law, Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the Minsk agreements.