In this picture, made available by Sputnik news agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen in a meeting with members of the government via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, on December 24, 2021. (Via AFP)

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin says the European Union should only blame its own policies for soaring gas prices, stressing that transporting Russian gas to Europe via the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline would lower the costs.

Europe’s gas prices have increased by almost 800% since the start of the year, soaring above $2,495 per 1,000 cubic meters on Tuesday. The price dropped on Friday, but it was still up more than 400%.

Speaking at a joint meeting of the State Council and a council on science and education on Friday, Putin urged the EU to approve the new Russian-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to ease the price crisis.

The additional gas supplies on the European gas market would surely reduce the price on an exchange, on the spot (market), Russian news agency RIA quoted Putin as saying.

Nord Stream 2, which was built in September, is a gas pipeline that is set to bring Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea bypassing transit states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other Eastern European states.

Russia says the project could provide relief to the European gas market, which has been grappling with tight supplies and soaring prices. However, the United States is strongly against the project, claiming that the pipeline will increase Europe’s reliance on Russian energy. Earlier in May, the US administration imposed sanctions against 13 ships and three Russian organizations involved in the project.

The pipeline is still awaiting regulatory approval from Berlin and Brussels.

The surging prices came as the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which runs from Russia to Belarus and further to Poland and Germany, has been flowing in reverse since Tuesday, sending gas eastward.

Putin on Thursday blamed Germany for the rise in prices, saying Berlin was reselling Russian gas to Poland and Ukraine rather than relieving an overheated market.