MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Mankind will not be able to move away from using oil and gas in the foreseeable future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said when opening modern campuses in regions via video link.

"Whatever is said about hydrocarbons, whatever is said about the need to develop alternative forms of energy - and this should be done, and we in Russia are dealing with this and will undoubtedly continue on with that, but as regards hydrocarbon energy <…> in the coming decades mankind will not be able to avoid [it]," the Russian leader said. This is "a medical fact," he noted.

Hydrocarbon energy should be made better by finding a way to make it as pure as possible, the head of state added.