Russia has decried what it called attempts to "sabotage" its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and other energy projects in Europe.
Speaking at the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul on July 10, Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said energy demand is set to grow in the coming years and it is essential that supplies not be hampered by politics.
"We have often in recent times encountered artificial limits on the development of infrastructure, an artificial preference for certain sources of energy and suppliers," he said.
"We see an open sabotage of infrastructure projects...that are economically well founded and attractive for consumers, like for instance Nord Stream 2," he said.
The project funneling Russian gas to Germany through a pipeline under the Baltic Sea has been welcomed in Berlin but met with hostility from Poland and other EU members worried about dependence on Russian energy.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently offered to sell eastern European states liquefied gas from the United States, saying it was a more secure energy source than Russian gas.
Novak charged that these "political considerations" amount to a kind of "protectionism" which violates world trading rules.
