Germany, as well as other European countries, are experiencing a severe energy crisis after they slapped sanctions against Moscow, driving fuel prices up to record-high levels.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that German authorities made a major mistake by prioritizing NATO relations instead of German citizens' wellbeing on Friday.
"In this case, apparently, some obligations in the alliance were put at the forefront... Was it right or not? I think that this is a mistake, and now German business, economy, and citizens are paying for this mistake, because there are negative economic consequences for the Eurozone in general and for Germany in particular," Putin said on Friday at a press conference following his visit to Kazakhstan.
According to him, it seems that few people take German interests into account - otherwise "Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 would not have been blown up". Although they were not (delivering gas before the explosions), there was an element of reliability - that as a last resort they could be turned on; but now there is no such option," he added.
In the past few months, Germany has seen a surge in energy prices since the EU adopted several rounds of sanctions against Moscow, citing the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.
The situation became even more daring in September after the Nord Stream pipeline was targeted by explosions, resulting in a massive leakage of gas under the Baltic Sea.
Russia has been investigating the pipeline incidents as acts of international terrorism, while European Union officials also admitted that the pipeline was sabotaged. However, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, who are investigating the blasts, demonstrated no intentions to include Russia in the probe.
Special Military Operation
Putin addressed the special military operation in Ukraine, saying that Russia had no intention of destroying Ukraine and that the Russian military has no need for another series of strikes against Ukrainian military infrastructure.
“There is no need for massive strikes now, there are other tasks, because, as far as I know, out of 29 (infrastructure) objects, seven were not hit as planned by the Ministry of Defense. But these objects are being finished off gradually, there is no need for massive strikes, at least for now, and later - we'll see," he explained.
He also commented on the partial draft mobilization, stressing that it would be finalized in two weeks. The president said that the mobilization was needed to secure the line of contact with Ukraine, which is over 1,000 kilometers.
"Now... 222,000 people have been mobilized out of 300,000. I think that within about two weeks all mobilization activities will be completed," Putin stated.
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He also warned against calls to dispatch NATO forces in Ukraine, stressing that if the alliance's troops directly clash with Russian forces it could lead to a global catastrophe. He stated that people speculating about this should be cautious enough not to engage in fully-fledged confrontation with Russia.
Russia targeted Ukrainian infrastructure following a terror attack on the Crimean bridge last week, which damaged the construction and killed several people.
Possible Negotiations
Commenting on the prospects of talks between Moscow and Washington ahead of the G20 summit, the Russian president noted that Joe Biden should be asked about it, adding that at the moment there is no platform for such dialogue.
Putin also added he has not decided yet if he will travel to the G20 summit in Indonesia.
He also noted that Russia is always ready for talks with Ukraine, but that Kiev has already made a decision to make talks impossible.
"We have always said that we are open (for negotiations). We even reached certain agreements in Istanbul. in fact, these accords were almost initialed. However, as soon as the (Russian) troops withdrew from Kiev, Ukraine's desire to negotiate immediately disappeared, that's all," Putin said.
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