The Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is partly suspending cooperation with the operator of the Polish segment of a major pipeline after its request for lower transit fees was rebuffed, Poland's state-owned gas monopoly said Tuesday.

The Polish company, Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe & Gazownictwo, or PGNiG, did not specify what, if any, effect the dispute involving the Yamal pipeline, which carries Russian gas to Europe, might have.

The dispute comes as Russia, under President Vladimir Putin, has been putting pressure on other European countries regarding energy resources. Most recently, Gazprom suspended natural gas supplies to Belarus after a dispute over fees. That was resolved Dec. 31 with a new deal on prices, barely avoiding a cutoff to Europe. But Putin said Tuesday that Russia would cut energy subsidies to Belarus.

Gazprom and Rosneft, both state- controlled Russian companies, have also been jockeying for rights to buy out the Russian partners of the British oil company BP. The move might eventually leave BP with a minority stake in the venture; it now owns half.

And in December, Gazprom took majority control of the largest combined oil and natural gas field in the world, Sakhalin-2, when the foreign developers, led by Royal Dutch Shell, agreed to sell 50 percent plus one share to Gazprom. That came after months of pressure on the company and accusations from a Russian environmental regulator. Critics called the sale of the Russian Far East field a forced nationalization.