INTERNATIONAL: Russian President Vladimir Putin has said on Thursday it was unfair to blame Moscow for record-high natural gas prices in Europe as Russia's Gazprom was meeting all of its supply obligations.

Putin told an annual media briefing that Gazprom had to meet obligations under long-term deals before providing gas to spot markets, and the countries that had struck long-term contracts - such as Germany - were now enjoying much lower prices and could even resell gas to neighbors profitably.

Europe has created its own gas problems and should resolve them itself, Putin has said, adding that he suspected some Russian gas piped to Germany was ultimately being resold to Ukraine.

^{PHOTO: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT, VLADIMIR PUTIN, SPEAKING AT ANNUAL NEWS CONFERENCE ABOUT GAS PRICES IN EUROPE}