Labour has suggested the UK should follow EU countries and ration oil and gas supplies to avoid a showdown with Vladimir Putin.
Last week the despot Russian leader told "unfriendly" countries they must pay for gas in roubles or it will cut supplies.
It was not clear whether he planned to slash existing contracts that set the price in euros or dollars, but nations fear he may start to ration energy supplies.
Germany and Austria moved a step closer to gas rationing on Wednesday, after activating an emergency plan.
Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds hinted the UK should follow suit, before making a a complete U-turn.
He first told the BBC's Sunday Morning show: "We should be making those plans and the Government should be preparing, not necessarily in public, for that situation", and insisted the Government should stop "shopping from one authoritarian regime to the next for fossil fuels".
“But let’s be clear, we’re looking at the images coming out of Ukraine right now, I don’t think we should be talking about going back to business as usual where we just buy large quantities of fossil fuels," he said.
Transport Secretary Grant shapps claimed rationing energy supplies is not the route the Government wants to "go down on".
He told Sunday Morning: "I think the summit in Europe, the Germans in particular are very exposed to Russian energy."
Mr Shapps added: "[The UK is] not as open to shocks directly from Russia as a result of the fact that we don't get as much oil and gas from them as other countries."
"It's not the route that we want to go down."
Mr Reynolds, the Shadow Business Secretary, has since rowed back on his comments.
Speaking to Times Radio, he said rationing oil and gas would be a "disaster for households and businesses".
"The fact that you’re even asking the question is an indictment of Conservative energy policy over the past decade and the fact that we still haven’t had a plan from the government even though they said it was a priority and an emergency.”
The UK has pledged to ban Russian oil imports by the end of this year as Putin's invasion of Ukraine has shown no signs of slowing down.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the transition would "give the market, businesses and supply chains more than enough time to replace Russian imports - which make up 8% of UK demand".
The Government did not make plans to reduce the UK's reliance on Russian's gas, claiming Russia only provides around 5% of the country's gas supplies.
Russia supplies around 40% of Germany's gas. Despite the EU countries plans to prepare for rationing, it has admitted it will not be able to wean its reliance on Russia until mid-2024.
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