Merkel pledges to continue EU energy cooperation with Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday that there were reasons for the European Union to continue its energy cooperation with Russia, despite their differences over the Ukrainian issue, Ria Novosti reported.
Speaking at a press conference with Finland's Prime Minister Alexander Stubb in Berlin, Merkel said that the 28-member European bloc still heavily depended on Russia's natural gas deliveries.
"It is not our goal to completely sever this dependency," she said.
She added that, on the contrary, both parties were interested in continuing this energy cooperation, stressing that Germany received 38 percent of its gas from Russia, while some EU countries completely depended on Russian gas supplies.
The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has driven a wedge between Russia and the West over Moscow's handling of Crimea's independence referendum back in March, prompting the European Union and United States to retaliate with several rounds of targeted economic sanctions.
For instance, Russia's energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom have been prevented from raising long-term debt on EU markets.
Some nations in the European Union have also been calling to reduce the bloc's dependence on Russian energy.