Austria's OMV and Russia's Gazprom have signed a deal for the Austrian section of the controversial South Stream gas pipeline that bypasses Ukraine. Austria's president, Heinz Fischer, has rejected US and EU criticism.
Austrian energy company OMV and Russia's Gazprom signed a contract on Tuesday for the construction of the South Stream pipeline's Austrian section.
It came just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Vienna for a one-day visit.
While OMV general director Gerhard Roiss said the South Stream pipeline would "ensure energy security for Europe, particularly for Austria," the US embassy in Vienna launched a thinly veiled attack on the move.
In a statement, it said that trans-Atlantic unity had been essential in "discouraging further Russian aggression" and that the Austrians "should consider carefully whether today's events contribute to that effort."
In a meeting with Austrian president Heinz Fischer, Putin slammed the criticism by saying that "our American friends... want to supply Europe with gas themselves. They do everything to derail this contract..."
Fischer also defended the project, stating that "no one can tell me why... a gas pipeline that crosses NATO and EU states can't touch 50 kilometers (31 miles) of Austrian territory."
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