MOSCOW: Russian energy giant Gazprom has rejected accusations that Moscow is limiting gas deliveries to Europe and denounced Germany's resale of gas to Poland amid soaring prices.
Poland this week accused Moscow of having stopped its deliveries via the Yamal-Europe pipeline that sends Russian gas to Western Europe, accusing Gazprom of "manipulation".
The pipeline was operating in reverse mode this week, sending gas from Germany to Poland, public data showed, as European gas prices ticked up.
President Vladimir Putin on Friday denied that the flow direction was a political move and said that Poland had "sidelined" Russia in managing the pipeline.
"All accusations against Russia and Gazprom that we are not supplying enough gas to the European market are absolutely groundless and unacceptable and untrue," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said late Saturday, calling the accusations "lies".
He said some buyers of Russian gas, in particular Germany and France, have not made additional orders, and slammed the reverse flow of gas that came as "winter is just beginning" as "not the most rational decision."
"I don't even want to talk about the price of such reverse supplies. These prices are significantly higher than the prices for contract volumes set by Gazprom, he said in an interview on state television.
"All problems in Western Europe have been created by themselves and there is no need to blame Gazprom for this. It is better to look in the mirror."
Western countries have for weeks accused Russia of limiting gas deliveries to put pressure on Europe amid tensions over the Ukraine conflict and to push through the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline set to ship Russian gas to Germany.
Germany's energy ministry, for its part, on Sunday poured cold water on accusations of Russia withholding deliveries.
"Long-term supply contracts, including the Russian ones, are being adhered to and the long-term quantities of gas are arriving in Germany," the ministry said.
On Saturday Russia announced Saturday that more than 10,000 troops had finished month-long drills near Ukraine, amid Western accusations that Moscow was plotting an invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbour.
The defence ministry said in a statement that the drills for Southern Military District forces had taken place in a host of southern regions including Rostov, Krasnodar and Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.
But the drills also took place further afield, including in Stavropol, Astrakhan, North Caucasus republics and even in Russia's Caucasus ally Armenia.
The defence ministry said the troops were returning to their permanent bases and that stand-by units would be readied for the New Year's holidays.
Western countries have accused Russia of massing upwards of 100,000 troops near Ukraine ahead of a possible winter invasion.
According to Kiev's estimates, the number of Russian troops along Ukraine's borders has increased from around 93,000 troops in October to 104,000 now.
Russia says it is free to move its forces on its territory how it sees fit and denies that it is planning a large-scale attack.
It has presented the West with sweeping security demands, saying NATO must not admit new members and seeking to bar the United States from establishing new bases in former Soviet republics.
Tensions reached a boiling point on Wednesday when President Vladimir Putin said Russia would take "appropriate retaliatory" military steps in response to what he called the West's "aggressive stance".
But he lowered the volume the next day, saying he had seen a "positive" reaction from the United States to Russia's security proposals and said talks would take place next month.
A senior US official has said Washington was "ready to engage in diplomacy as soon as early January", both bilaterally and through "multiple channels".
On Saturday, a German government official said Moscow and Berlin had agreed to a meeting in "early January".
German leader Olaf Scholz and Putin in a phone call Thursday agreed to the meeting between the chancellor's diplomatic adviser, Jens Ploetner, and the Kremlin's pointman on relations with Ukraine, Dmitry Kozak.
In an interview on Friday, a senior Ukrainian security official said that there was no risk of an imminent Russian invasion. -- AFP
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