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Upper house speaker says no grounds to blame energy crisis in Europe on Russia

"I have never heard any responsible government official, any serious politician to say that Russia is blamed for it," Valentina Matviyenko noted

MOSCOW, October 12. /TASS/. Allegations that Russia is behind the current energy crisis in Europe have a populist nature and are absolutely ungrounded, Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council, or upper parliament house, said on Tuesday.

"As for this gas crisis and what is going on around it, I have never heard any responsible government official, any serious politician to say that Russia is blamed for it. Again, these were populist statements. It is obvious for everyone that for decades Russia has been and continues to be the most reliable supplier of energy resources and has always fully implemented and will continue to implement its liabilities," she said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

"I hope this situation will calm down now and we will proceed to systemic work. No accusations have been brought against Russia and there cannot be any. They are unjust and ungrounded," she stressed.

According to Matviyenko, European nations should review their approaches to the diversification of energy supplies. "The thing is that only Russia can fully satisfy the demand [for energy resources], we have all the capacities for that. I am sure that further cooperation will rest on this," she said.

On October 6, the price of a November futures at the TTF hub in the Netherlands hit an all-time high of more than $1,900 per 1,000 cubic meters, after which it nosedived.

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Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko

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