ITAR-TASS: Putin: Europe’s transition to American shale gas will be suicidal for EU economies
Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that transition to shale gas will be suicidal for the EU economies.
In his speech at the Valdai discussion club on Friday, Putin said that Russia’s trade turnover with the European Union stood at 260 billion dollars in the first half of 2014 even despite sanctions. He assumed, however, that the trade volumes could fall if Russia stopped all gas and oil supplies to Europe.
“We assume that it can happen at the will of our partners in Europe. But it’s hard to imagine,” Putin said, explaining that alternatives to Russian gas and oil supplies were worse.