West Coast,
Putin would be foolish not to weaponize NG. If he can achieve his goals by coercion rather than outright use of force and associated consequences, I have every reason to believe he would.
I don't think Putin will use the distribution and sale of NG and/or oil as a weapon to achieve whatever geo-political goals he has. I am sure Putin is very astute in the study of history going back before the start of WWII in the Pacific. However, if pushed hard enough with sanctions applied by the US, it is difficult to know what Putin might do. At the moment he is losing the support of his main political base in heartland Russia. Like Trump does in the USA, Putin often visits a key factory in the heartland of Russia noted for its production of military tanks. He promised both guns (tanks) and butter (higher wages/better living conditions), but has delivered neither and the workers and surrounding towns have turned on him. It is happening in other areas of Russia as well. The problem is the result of current US imposed sanctions and not enough income to make his promises happen. Putin is under a lot of pressure to deliver on his economic improvements across all of Russia and reverse the degrading living standards or his legitimacy becomes imperiled. The sale of NG to western Europe provides some room for Putin to keep his promises to the Russian citizens. Cut the NG initiative off and one can see what happened as a result of the US 1941 De Facto Embargo happening again. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.