WHy would putin deny that? He said he'll do that more than once:
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/putin-blames-germany...
Putin wants the pipelines open, because europe knows that the minute they sit down and reach a deal with russia, the valves get open, europe gets the gas.
Now europe is fucked, and even if local people protest due to cold, sitting down with putin won't bring back enough gas, so there is less incentive to actually make a deal.
But I'm sure USA will profit by selling overpriced gas to europe.