After the Russian company “Gazprom” announced the suspension of all gas exports to Bulgaria and Poland, US President Joe Biden considers that Moscow is practicing a policy of “blackmail” to circumvent sanctions and put pressure on European allies.
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US President Joe Biden (AFP)
US President Joe Biden confirmed, on Thursday, that his country “will not allow Russia to blackmail gas to put pressure on his country’s European allies and circumvent the sanctions” imposed by the West because of… Russian operation in Ukraine.
“We will not allow Russia to practice intimidation or blackmail to escape these sanctions,” Biden said. “We will not allow them to use their oil and gas to avoid the repercussions of their aggression.”
“We are working with other countries, such as Korea, Japan and Qatar, to help our European allies who are threatened by extorting gas from Russia,” he added.
Last Wednesday, the Russian giant “Gazprom” group cut all its gas exports to Bulgaria and Poland, in a decision that raised European fears of a shortage of supplies, not only in Eastern and Central Europe, but in the entire old continent.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken commented on Gazprom’s decision, saying: “Russia is shooting itself by depriving itself of the proceeds from gas sales to these two countries.”
Blinken stressed the need to increase liquefied natural gas exports from the United States to Europe to help compensate for potential shortfalls, including those resulting from “Russian blackmail,” as he described.
And two days ago, the agency said,Bloomberg“American In”10 buyers of Russian gas from Europe agreed to pay for it in rubles”, noting that they had already opened accounts in Gazprombank to pay for supplies of Russian blue fuel in rubles.
و .عربت Austria and Hungary They expressed their willingness to pay for Russian gas through the new mechanism, while Poland and Bulgaria refused to do so, prompting Gazprom to stop supplies to these two countries.
Gazprom announced Completely halting the supply of gas to the Bulgarian “Bulgargas” and the Polish “BG Neg” companies, due to the suspension of payment of dues in rubles.
After the West imposed sanctions on Russia, Moscow announced the transfer of gas payments to unfriendly countries to the ruble, in order to ensure receipt of the price for the supplied gas.
Russian President Vladimir signed Putin, on March 31, issued a decree defining the new system of payment for Russian gas supplies by buyers from countries not friendly to Russia, including the European Union.