MOSCOW, Oct. 18 -- Russia's deputy prime minister says European consumers will pay the price of the EU's ban on Russian gas imports, and that a shortage will follow. Alexander Novak made the case in an interview with Vesti that TASS published on Sunday.

Novak said there is "currently no way to cover the deficit," with the Strait of Hormuz closed and the plant in Qatar halted as a result of March attacks. European politicians, he said, are "shooting themselves in the foot if they ban supplies, including those from Russia."

The date at issue is January 1. Novak called the ban on LNG supplies starting then "very surprising" because "today the European market is unbalanced," adding that "the deficit is significant." Euronews has reported th...