Putin denies Russia using energy as 'weapon' against Europe
Russian
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday denied that Moscow was using energy
as a "weapon", days after Russia halted natural gas deliveries via a
key pipeline to Europe.
"They say that Russia uses energy as a weapon. More nonsense! What weapon do we use? We supply as much as required according to requests" from importers, Putin told the Eastern Economic Forum in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok.
Russian gas giant Gazprom said Friday that the Nord Stream pipeline due to reopen at the weekend after three days of maintenance would remain shut for repairs.
The Kremlin says sanctions have blocked the return of a Siemens turbine that had been undergoing repairs in Canada.
"Give as a turbine, we will turn Nord Stream on tomorrow, Putin said.
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"We are ready to do this tomorrow, just need to press a button. But we were not the ones who introduced sanctions," Putin added.
Speaking about the possibility of a price cap on Russian natural gas, Putin said it was "another stupidity" and "another non-market solution with no prospects".
"If European countries want to give up their competitive advantages, that's up to them," Putin said, adding that Russia is ready to cooperate with "any country".
Following the imposition of economic sanctions over the Kremlin's offensive of Ukraine, Russia has reduced or halted supplies to different European nations, causing energy prices to soar.
The EU has accused Moscow of using energy as blackmail.
