RUSSIA-ITALY-GERMANY-FRANCE-GAS-ENERGY-EU-POLITICS

A worker checks wires in front a gas pipe line section before a ceremony to launch the construction of South Stream gas pipeline outside the Black Sea resort town of Anapa, on December 7, 2012. Russia's President Vladimir Putin launched yesterday construction of the long-awaited South Stream pipeline that the Kremlin hopes will pump Russia's gas to Europe while avoiding its unpredictable neighbour Ukraine. AFP PHOTO / POOL /SERGEI KARPUKHIN (Photo by SERGEI KARPUKHIN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI KARPUKHIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)