Vladimir Putin demands Asia pipeline as warning to Europe
Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, intensified the Kremlin's pressure on Europe over energy supplies by demanding a fresh completion date for a pipeline project linking its resources to Asia.
By Damien McElroy in Tbilisi
Last Updated: 4:57PM BST 31 Aug 2008
REUTERS
The announcement on the eve of Monday's Brussels summit on Russia's occupation of Georgia put European states on notice that Moscow is developing an alternative client base in the Far East.
To stave off tough measures, including possible sanctions, Moscow has sent a variety of signals that it will use its energy clout to retaliate against any European reprimand for its refusal to implement a ceasefire with Georgia.
Russia's Asian pipeline is a technically challenging effort to link the oilfields of Eastern Siberia to Russia's Pacific coast thousands of miles to the east. Mr Putin visited Kozmino, a giant oil terminal, where the resources will be loaded for transportation to China and Japan.
The two-stage pipeline has been delayed by a year and building costs have soared as constructors grapple with the harsh conditions of the Siberian tundra, where temperatures regularly fall to -50 C and infrastructure is nonexistent.
When it is inaugurated the Kremlin will have succeeded in diversifying its financial dependence on energy sales to the European Union.
Moscow holds the whip hand in that relationship but fears that the continent will eventually find new sources of energy outside its control. In the meantime it uses the dependence of states like Germany as leverage in its foreign policy.
Last week The Daily Telegraph learned that Russian energy chiefs were preparing to implement a reduction in supplies through the Western pipelines as early as Monday. About 70 per cent of Russian output is sold to Europe, but supplies have been severed at times of political tensions.
In the wake of a Czech deal to host an American missile shield, Russia's delivers from the Friendship pipeline fell 40 per cent but "technical" difficulties were blamed for the drop-off.
In the last four years, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine have also suffered mysterious shortages while embroiled in disputes with Russia.
Mr Putin lashed out at the European summit, defending the country's incursion into Georgia. "The truth is on our side," he told Vesti-24 television.
"We act absolutely correctly, morally and in accordance with international law. Someone in Europe wants to serve someone else's foreign-policy interests."
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