EU energy commissioner Gunther Oettinger sharply criticised Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin for using energy to play power politics and called on European leaders to adopt a tougher common position in negotiations with Moscow.
His remarks coincide with the start of gas flows through the Nord Stream pipeline.
“Putin does not see the Red Army, but gas and gas pipelines, as his weapon,” Oettinger told the European Parliament in Brussels today. “We have to recognise and react straight away as well as act together. We should only deal with such partners using a European strategy.
“I have great respect for the Russians. I believe the Russians have respect for us if we bundle our forces,” Oettinger later told
Argus. “Our interests are different —
That's totally normal in economic matters — but we will come to fair and acceptable solutions.”
The commissioner wants countries to back a common EU negotiating strategy. This includes states that up until now have felt strong enough to negotiate with Russia alone.
Oettinger sees the southern corridor route to deliver gas from the Caspian and Middle East as Europe's best defence strategy. And he called Russian state-controlled Gazprom's planned South Stream line across the Black Sea to southeast Europe a “new route for old gas”. Oettinger does not see any possibility of EU support for South Stream without new non-Russian gas.