Putin Slams European Energy Policies

Vladir Putin used the gathering of the Valdai Discussion Club to issue sharp words about European energy policy.

The annual gathering brings together leading experts on Russian affairs, the country’s top politicians, business leaders, media and academics to engage in a sustained dialogue about the country’s political, economic, social and cultural development.

Asked how he reacted to the European Union's Third Energy Package that forbids gas suppliers from owning pipelines and to raids by European competition authorities on Gazprom offices, the Russian prime minister responded: “We think we are being squeezed out of the European energy market.”

Putin said that the new EU policy was introduced without consultation with Russia. Foreign investors had ploughed in money and signed contracts—and then “you changed the laws and say now let’s live by new rules.”

“Relations in this area should be stable and should be enshrined in contacts. The [new] energy package annihilates the long-term programs,” he said.

Mr. Putin spoke that day after EU energy commissioner Güenther Oettinger told the European Parliament that Russia is using natural gas as a weapon in international relations.

“Putin is not interested in having a new Red Army, he sees energy as being his weapon,” he told an event at the European Parliament. The EU has to recognize that quickly and react jointly, Oettinger said.

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