Europe close: Stocks slip as geopolitical tensions run high

European stocks ended the day a tad lower after Russia's foreign minister said the scope of its invasion of Ukraine would be expanded should the West provide Kyiv with long-range weaponry.

In the background, speaking in Tehran, Vladimir Putin hinted at a possible further reduction in gas supplies to Europe as soon as next week if additional maintenance to the Nordstream 1 pipeline could not be carried out.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 index drifted lower by 0.26% to 422.51, France’s CAC 40 was off by 0.27% to 6,184.66 and Germany’s DAX dipped 0.20% to 13,281.98.

The remarks from Lavrov and Putin came amid reports of Ukrainian preparations for a counteroffensive in the southern and strategic region of Kherson.

Hence European Commission chief, Ursula Von der Leyen's call to European Union member states, on Wednesday, to reduce their gas consumption by 15% through March.

"Russia is blackmailing us. Russia is using energy as a weapon. And therefore in any event, whether a partial major cutoff of Russian gas or a total cutoff of Russian gas, Europe needs to be ready," Von der Leyen said at a news conference.

Still ahead for after the close of trading in London was a vote in the Italian Senate, at 1730 BST, on whether or not to rebuild a governing unity coalition.

One of the alternatives was the calling of early elections in Italy, most likely in autumn.

Investors were also looking ahead to the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank on Thursday, following reports that policymakers would discuss whether to increase interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points to tackle inflation.

In corporate news, chip equipment maker ASML rose even after it cut its sales growth guidance for the year.

German energy outfit Uniper's shares bounced 13% amid market chatter of an impending bailout from Berlin.