Officials and civil servants are working and communicating with international natural gas suppliers to avoid a potential gas crisis in Europe, should Russia decide to reduce or completely halt gas supplies. The USA has assisted Europe in diversifying gas supplies from various parts of the world. As is known, gas is one of Vladimir Putin's sharpest and most powerful weapons for defending his interests. As tensions from Russia regarding Ukraine increase, international gas suppliers have finally become convinced that Europeans must not suffer from sudden potential energy outages in the middle of winter.