The European Union accuses Russia of blackmail after the suspension of gas supplies | The Russian army took control of several towns in Kharkov and Donetsk

Russia launched the suspension of its gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria and I accuse them of refusing to make payment in rubles. The affected countries accused Moscow of blackmail. The Kremlin also confirmed that the measure might be extended to other states that refuse to pay as indicated by the Russian state Gazprom. The European Union criticized the measure and assured that they will seek alternatives so that the supply cut has the least possible impact.

no russian gas

The heads of state of Bulgaria and Poland reacted to the decision of the state Gazprom that today leaves the two nations without one of their main sources of gas. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused Russia of trying to blackmail his country with the abrupt supply cut. and I assure you that this is a retaliation for the Warsaw sanctions once morest Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. Morawiecki spoke before parliament and assured that Poland will not be intimidated. In addition, he said that the European country is safe following years of efforts to guarantee alternative sources of gas. Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that the companies affected by the Russian state company will take legal action once morest Russia for “violation of contract”.

Bulgaria had a similar reaction to Gazprom’s announcement. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov called Moscow’s decision “unacceptable blackmail.” and like Warsaw stated that it is a “serious breach of contract”. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, joined the chorus of dissent once morest Russia. “It is not surprising that the Kremlin uses fossil fuels to try to blackmail us. This is something we have been preparing for, in close coordination and solidarity with member states and international partners.”

For von der Leyen, the Russian demand to receive rubles is not in tune with 97 percent of the signed contracts between companies and European countries that establish the dollar and the euro as payment currency. Besides, the president of the EC nuanced the Kremlin sanctions and assured that Poland and Bulgaria are receiving gas from their European neighbors. “We will make sure that Gazprom’s decision has as little impact as possible on European consumers,” he said. This Wednesday The EC proposed to suspend for one year the collection of customs duties on products from the former Soviet republic. The Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, assured that this will allow the country’s economic activity to keep afloat in the face of the Russian invasion.

historical dependency

At the end of March, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would stop accepting payment for his gas in dollars and euros. Instead, Europeans had to pay in rubles. Although in recent days European countries had been confident of being able to cut off dependence on Russian gas, the Kremlin’s decision to cut supplies to Poland and Bulgaria took Western Europe by surprise.

According to data from the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), in 14 European countries dependence on Russian gas exceeds 50 percent. In Finland, Georgia and Latvia it exceeds 90 percent of imports, 70 percent in Bulgaria, Estonia and Slovakia, 55 percent in Germany, while in Poland it is 40 percent.

In Austria, the Austrian Energy Agency confirmed that in the European country the dependence on Russian gas grew historically and today represents 80 percentaccording to the local newspaper The standard. With the suspension of gas to Warsaw and Sofia as a backdrop, This Wednesday the Vienna energy authority presented a report in which it ensures that the Alpine country might do without Russian gas only in 2030. “The Energy Agency estimates gross domestic consumption at 89 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. Of these, some 63 TWh come from Russia and 16 are imported from Norway and other European countries. An amount of ten TWh, until now insignificant, comes from national production”, cites the morning paper. According to the energy authority, Vienna might seek to increase supplies from Norway, or attempt a rapprochement with Algeria as Italy has done in recent weeks.

Berlin and Vienna pay in euros

Vienna also quelled rumors published in the Russian state agency that suggested it had agreed to make the payment in rubles. The Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, assured that it is “fake news of Russian propaganda” and that the Austrian energy company OMV will continue to pay in euros. Germany also reacted to the confusion denounced by Austria. The spokeswoman for the German Ministry of Economy, Susanne Ungrad, pointed out that the contracts “apply and are denominated in euros and dollars.”

According to the German morning Berliner Zeitungit is a modality according to which European companies transfer the payment money to their Gazprombank account, and the Russian bank converts the euros into rubles, which it then transfers to Russian gas exporting companies. This method of payment was proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of March following the Kremlin announced that it would request payment for gas in rubles. The spokesman for the German executive, Steffen Hebestreit, pointed out that at this time the energy and gas supply in Germany is guaranteed, although he clarified that he cannot know what will happen in the future.

While, The Kremlin warned that other European countries might suffer the same fate as Poland and Bulgaria if they refuse to pay in rubles. Russian government spokesman Dmitri Peskov, who Russia’s decision is a fallout from Western sanctions that froze Moscow’s foreign currency reserves in foreign banks. According to Peskov, it was the theft of a significant part of the Russian reserves and he classified it as a “unprecedented hostile action”.

Russia advances in the Donbass

On the other hand, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported that Russian troops took control of several towns in the east of the former Soviet republic (Kharkov and Donetsk). “Extremely difficult weeks await us,” warned Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov following revealing that Russian forces had taken the towns of Zarichne and Novotoshkivske, in Donetsk province.

Russia for its part reported that it bombed warehouses in Zaporizhia, towards the southeast of the country, and destroyed a large number of weapons. However, the regional governor denied this information and said that no ammunition depot was hit by the Russian army. As Putin spoke out once morest any external intervention for the invasion of Ukraine, he will receive a withering response from Moscow. The Russian president assured that they have all the tools to respond.

While the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, arrived in kyiv following his meeting with Putin in Moscow. The United Nations representative will meet this Thursday with Zelensky with the intention of expanding humanitarian aid for kyiv and guaranteeing the evacuation of civilians in conflict zones.

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