The Kremlin has dismissed fears that Russia could shut down its gas pipeline to Europe in the event of sanctions over the amassing of its troops on the border with Ukraine.

“Russia has fulfilled its treaty obligations impeccably in the most difficult times of the East-West confrontation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow on Monday, according to Interfax, quoted by Agerpres.

“Russia has never questioned its seriousness.”

The Kremlin has responded to reports in the European press that a gas supply freeze could be imminent. Peskov called the information “hysteria” and “insinuations.”

The West has threatened Moscow if Russia invades Ukraine, but Russia denies it has such plans, despite the build-up of troops.

In Germany, the head of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung that if the West imposes sanctions, Russia’s gas supplies could be “endangered.”