Putin: If Europeans want to stay warm, they only need to press one button

If European countries want to cope with the energy crisis, then they should lift sanctions from the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Vladimir Putin believes.

Russia is not the cause of the energy crisis in Europe. In order to overcome it, European countries can, in particular, lift sanctions from the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference following the SCO summit.

"In the end, if it gets too hard, if everything gets so difficult, go and lift the sanctions from Nord Stream 2. Fifty-five billion cubic meters per year — just press the button, and it will flow," the Russian president said.

"The energy crisis in Europe did not begin with the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. It started with the green agenda,” Putin said.

The EU lifted sanctions from Russian fertilizers, but the decision was only related to EU countries. This is a shameful decision, Putin said. Sanctions on freight and port calls are still in effect, he noted at the press conference following the SCO summit.

"The EU food rhetoric is a bluff to solve its own problems,” the president said.