Speaking at a press conference following talks with German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Vladimir Putin noted that cooperation between Russia and Germany in the energy sector could be considerably expanded and that Germany could develop from simply being a final consumer of Russian oil and gas into a major centre for distributing Russian energy resources in Europe.
This represents an important and significant contribution to ensuring Europe’s energy security, Mr Putin said.
Speaking about the prospects for carrying out the North European Gas Pipeline project, Mr Putin stressed that Russia would cooperate with environmental organisations during the pipeline’s construction, carry out very stringent expert studies and comply with their demands.