Putin suggested to a US journalist she was too 'beautiful' to understand a point he made about Russian gas supply

• Putin told a crowd that a US journalist was too "beautiful" to understand a point he made.
• CNBC journalist Hadley Gamble was asking Putin about Russia's standoff with Europe over gas supplies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested to an American journalist that she was too "beautiful" to understand his explanation of Russia's standoff with Europe over gas supplies.

The CNBC journalist Hadley Gamble, who spoke to the president before a live audience at the Russian Energy Week in Moscow, was addressing the recent accusations that Russia was withholding gas supplies to Europe in an effort to drive up prices.

Her questions seemed to irritate Putin, who at one point turned to the audience and said in Russian: "Beautiful woman, pretty, I'm telling her one thing. She instantly tells me the opposite as if she didn't hear what I said," The Hill reported.

Watch the full interview here. This particular exchange can be found at the five-minute, 43-second mark:

Gamble appeared to raise her eyebrows at his response, and told Putin she "heard" what he said and that she wanted to know why Russia had taken its time to increase energy supplies, The Hill reported.

"Listen, you've just said: 'You don't supply gas to Europe through pipelines.' You are being misled. We are increasing supplies to Europe ... We are increasing, not decreasing supplies," Putin said, according to The Hill.

"Did I really say something so hard to understand?" he added.

Western officials have recently accused Putin of seeking to exploit the rising gas prices in the US and Europe. Russia supplies about half of the EU's natural gas imports, the BBC reported.

The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is to run from Russia to Germany, was completed last month but is still awaiting clearance from Germany's energy regulator to start operations.

After the interview with Putin, Gamble posted a photograph of a leading Russian newspaper's front page that showed her extended leg while on stage with Putin.

"My best angle #feminism #Russia," Gamble wrote in her caption.