Finance ministers of world's wealthiest nations sounded the alarm over the cost of energy today and urged greater international cooperation to ensure stable supplies.
Ministers from the Group of Eight industrialised countries said in a communique that global economic expansion was strong but at risk because of high and volatile energy prices.
"We need to develop a civilised strategy which will reliably secure the world with energy at reasonable prices and with minimal damage to the environment," Russian President Vladimir Putin told the ministers.
A communique from the ministers said more work was needed to coordinate energy policy and promote price stability through a properly functioning market.
The meeting in icy Moscow marked Russia's first presidency of the G8 club -- which also includes the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Britain and Italy -- and Putin has made energy security a central theme for 2006.
For some of Putin's G8 partners, Russia is part of the problem as well as the solution.