MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator...
The European Commission representatives also met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Both meetings focused, among other things on the planned pan-European energy security system.
On the same day, Russian gas monopoly Gazprom disclosed the tentative cost of its most expensive endeavor, the South Stream gas pipeline project, estimated at 24 million euros.
Do we need a new agreement?
The two-week gap in Russian gas supplies to Europe across Ukraine in early January has brought Europe's energy security problem back into the limelight.
"The energy security issue is very important. The latest gas crisis has shown that things aren't so good here. The situation is very vulnerable," Medvedev said at the meeting with EU officials.
Despite the common talk that such issues should be handled bilaterally by the conflicting parties - in this case, Russia and Ukraine - in reality such conflicts often hit other countries - European gas consumers this time.