Following the informal Russia-EU summit in the Finnish city of Lahti, Vladimir Putin expressed his confidence that Russia will be able to reach an agreement with Europe on all energy-related issues.
44 percent of the EU’s gas imports come from Russia. In addition, 67 percent of Russia’s gas exports go to Europe. For that reason, Vladimir Putin pointed out that Russia depends more on European consumers than Europe depends on Russia.
The President emphasised that Russia would like energy cooperation to be more than simply mutually advantageous, it must also be based on common principles. Russia is not opposed to the principles contained in the Energy Charter, but Russia considers that some of the Charter’s provisions must be revised or else a new document must be developed. Vladimir Putin pointed out that no long-term and concrete prospects can exist without taking into account the interests of all partners involved in cooperation.
Leaders of the EU’s 25 member countries, heads of the European Commission, and the presidents of Bulgaria and Romania, countries entering the EU in the near future, were invited to the informal Russia-EU summit.