Russian President Putin blames Europe for energy crisis as EU works on price cap

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Europe was to blame for its energy crisis with policies that starved the oil and gas industry of investment. Speaking at an energy forum in Russia, President Putin said, price caps would make the crisis worse, as European Union states tried to forge a deal on ways to contain soaring energy costs.

Russian President said, the leaks in the two Nord Stream pipelines running from Russia to Europe were an act of international terrorism and about depriving people of cheap energy. He said, gas could still be supplied by one intact part of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline but it was up to the European Union whether or not it wanted the gas. Germany cancelled the Nord Stream 2 project after the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

An international



investigation is underway into explosions last month that ruptured the Russian-built Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines on the bed of the Baltic Sea. President Putin said Russia was not to blame for the sky-high energy prices in Europe.

The impact of efforts to use less Russian energy, plus steep cuts in supplies from Russia, have been felt across the 27-nation EU, with gas prices almost 90 per cent higher than a year ago and fears of rationing and power cuts over the coming winter.

The pipelines, which have become a flashpoint in the Ukraine crisis, have been leaking  Methene gas into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Europe suspects an act of sabotage that Moscow blames on the West, suggesting the United States stood to gain.