The global gas market has been recovering from the recent economic downturn, but demand for energy sources will soar over the next few years, Putin told a meeting with the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The premier cited the current energy crisis in the United States, where, he said, "the situation with shale gas... is very difficult."

"You couldn't transfer large electric power stations to wind energy, however much you wanted to. In the next few decades, it will be impossible," Putin said, adding that consumption patterns would only undergo minor changes.

He said the only "real and powerful alternative" to oil and gas is nuclear energy. He rejected other approaches as "claptrap."