"Now, of course, everything depends on our partners, consumers in Europe, in the Federal Republic [of Germany]. As soon as they decide to start work, large volumes, additional volumes of Russian gas will immediately begin to flow to Europe. Let me remind you that this is 55 billion cubic meters per year," Putin said.
The launch of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will lead to lower gas prices not only for Europe, but also for Ukraine, Putin added.
Meanwhile, Gazprom finished filling the second thread of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with gas on Wednesday, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Today at 12:58 Moscow time [09:58 GMT], Gazprom completed the filling of the second thread of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with gas. The first and second threads of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are under operational pressure and are fully ready for operation," Miller said.