ST PETERSBURG, Russia- Russia will gradually increase its production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in order to play a greater role on this market, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"Russia will consistently build up its gas liquefying capacities to carve out the niche that our country deserves in this field," Putin said.

(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya Writing by Anton Kolodyazhnyy Editing by Andrey Ostroukh) ((anton.kolodyazhnyy@thomsonreuters.com; +74957751242;))