Russia Against Politicizing Gas Deliveries, But Needs Guarantees - Putin

Russia is against politicizing natural gas deliveries, but Moscow needs guarantees to avoid losses, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia does not rule out any routes for delivering Russian gas to Europe, Putin said.

"We are absolutely depoliticizing these issues. The issue is of a purely economic nature, expediency, first and foremost. No routes are ruled out. We are ready to return to anything. We are not going to take offense at Bulgaria or other countries for not finding the courage once to oppose the decisions of the European Commission," Putin said after talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, commenting on the halted South Stream project.

"But we need guarantees," he said.

The South Stream project assuming transporting gas from Russia through the Black Sea to Bulgaria implementation was abandoned due to European Commission claims that the project was allegedly in breach of the EU third energy package, under which the same company cannot own the gas and operate the pipeline.

It is technologically feasible to ensure deliveries of Russian natural gas to Hungary through Nord Stream-2 and Turkish Stream gas pipelines, Putin said.

"The technological possibility to supply Russian gas to Hungary via Nord Stream-2 certainly does exist: through Slovakia, through Austria, it could be done in a number of ways. This project is certainly feasible."

"The delivery of Russian gas through Turkey, via the Turkish Stream, is also possible," Putin added.

Russia and Hungary will expand cooperation in the energy sector, Putin said.

He added that Hungary is a reliable link in the transit of Russian fuel to Europe.

"We can say one thing for sure: Russian gas will be reliably supplied to the Hungarian market, it is 100 percent," Putin said.