The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, believes that Russia has waged a “gas war” against Europe. Its goal is to make it as difficult as possible for countries to prepare for winter.
Source: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
The Russian gas monopolist Gazprom announced the reduction of gas pumping from 67 to 33 million cubic meters of gas per day at the Portova compressor station at the beginning of the Nord Stream gas pipeline. This is only 20% of the total capacity of the gas pipeline, which is 167 million cubic meters per day.
“Today we saw another gas threat to Europe. Even with the concession on the Nord Stream turbine, Russia is not going to resume gas supplies to European countries, as it is contractually obligated to do. This is an open gas war that Russia is waging against a united Europe – that is how it should be perceived.”
Zelenskyy compared the Kremlin’s gas blackmail to other types of terror: blocking Ukrainian ports and provoking world hunger and creating inhumane conditions in the occupied territories.
The answer to such actions should be the strengthening of sanctions, limiting the income of the aggressor, not only from gas and oil but also from any export in general. It is also necessary to sever trade ties with Russia as much as possible because each such tie is a potential means of pressure.
“Europe’s gas blackmail, which only gets worse every month, is needed by a terrorist state to make life worse for every European. And this can actually be seen as an incentive for the eighth EU sanctions package to be much stronger than the recently approved seventh,” concluded Zelenskyy.
See also: The EU is working on a gas deal with Egypt and Israel to reduce dependence on Russia
