CHISINAU -- The head of the Russian State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee said Russia does not oppose the Nabucco pipeline, which would reduce Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas, but he is skeptical about its viability.
Konstantin Kosachyov told RFE/RL's Moldovan Service, "Let the Europeans build the Nabucco pipeline, let them finance it, and let it work, if they find enough gas to make it work."
Speaking from Strasbourg on February 3, Kosachyov said that instead of "throwing billions of dollars" into the Nabucco project the Europeans should try to find a reliable solution for Russian gas imports through Ukraine and Belarus.
The recent gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine left millions of European households without heat and caused governments across the European Union to think of alternative sources of energy.
Nabucco would bring natural gas and oil from Caspian Sea and possibly Middle Eastern states to Europe via Turkey.