ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. Gazprom will survive Europe's refusal to supply Russian gas, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the heads of world news agencies, organized by TASS.
The head of state wondered why Germany, after the explosion of one of the Nord Stream 2 pipes, does not want to receive gas through the remaining one.
"What is the logic? You can get it through the territory of Ukraine, you can get it through Turkey, but you can’t get it through the Baltic Sea. This is ridiculous. There is no formal logic, I don’t even understand it. They could say: Europe should not receive gas at all. We (Russia - TASS) will survive, Gazprom will survive. Do you need to buy liquefied natural gas that comes through the ocean at exorbitant prices?" he said at the meeting, which took place at the Lakhta Center in St. Petersburg.
Putin noted that Russia continues to supply gas to Europe through the territory of Ukraine and other routes.
"They blew up those unfortunate pipelines (Nord Stream - TASS). <...> They are not indignant, as if this is how it should be. However, we continue to supply gas to Europe through the territory of Ukraine," the Russian leader said.
"There were two pipeline systems. The Ukrainian side closed one of them. They simply closed it and that’s it, although there is no reason for this. They left only one pipe. Well, okay. But gas flows through it to Europe. And European consumers receive this gas," Putin said, adding that gas also goes to Europe through the TurkStream pipeline.