Putin: The ball is in the Europeans' court to resume Nord Stream supplies

Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed on Wednesday that his country is a reliable source of energy and blamed the West for the disruption in supply to the market, in a speech before an energy forum in Moscow.

After explosions damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Russia to Europe, Putin said that "the ball is now in the European Union's court" to restore supplies.

"If they want to, they can open the taps, and that's all there is to it," he added.

He emphasized that Moscow was "ready to resume supplies" across the part that was not affected by the leak.

The Russian leader considered that the leak was caused by "international terrorism" that would serve the interests of the United States, Poland and Ukraine.

In the run-up to winter, European leaders scrambled to devise a plan to tackle rising energy prices while maintaining sanctions against Russia.

More than half of the EU countries demanded a price cap.

However, Putin said that Russia "will not supply energy to countries that put a ceiling on its prices."

Referring to setting price ceilings, Putin said, "With their decisions, some Western politicians are destroying the global market economy and actually posing a threat to the well-being of billions of people."

"Ordinary Europeans are suffering ... people, as in the Middle Ages, began storing firewood for the winter," he continued.

Before a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin suggested setting up an energy center in Turkey.

Putin said that Russia could "move to the Black Sea region ... its main route of fuel and gas supplies to Europe via Turkey, thus creating Turkey's largest gas hub."

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