Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he will respond promptly if a third country attempts to intervene in Ukraine’s crisis.
In a speech held in St. Petersburg on the 27th, Putin said, “If an outsider tries to intervene in the situation in Ukraine and creates a strategic threat to Russia, the countermeasure will be blitz and swift.” said.
“All decisions in this regard have already been made,” he added.
“We have all the means to do that,” Putin said.
“But we (Russia) do not stop bragging, we will use it when necessary,” he added.
“All tasks of Ukraine’s ‘special military operation’ will be implemented without fail,” Putin said.
Donbas is a region in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists such as the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)’ and ‘Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR)’ are located.
■ Poland·Neighboring gas supply to Romania
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russia is getting gas from neighboring countries in connection with Russia’s cessation of natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
“The decision of[Russian state-owned energy company]Gazprom will be as unaffected as possible on European consumers,” von der Leyen said in a statement on the 27th. said.
“Poland and Bulgaria have updated the situation with us,” he added.
Chairman von der Leyen emphasized that these measures were “prepared in close cooperation and solidarity with member countries and international partners” and that “our response will be immediate, united and coordinated.”
Chairman von der Leyen also said, “We are committed to ensuring the medium-term plan for sufficient gas supply and storage, and we are looking forward to investing in the green transition. We will announce a plan to accelerate the green transition in mid-May.” added.
“Putin (President of Russia) has failed again today,” Von der Leyen said on Twitter.
Earlier on the same day (27th), Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom announced in a statement that it had completely stopped supplying gas to Polish and Bulgarian gas companies that refused to pay in rubles.
The Kremlin has since stated that the decision to stop gas supply will not take effect immediately, and will take effect after the end of the month when payment is made.
Russian authorities are warning that other European countries may also be subject to the decision to cut gas supplies.
On the 31st of last month, Russian President Vlamidir Putin signed a presidential decree stating that the contract would be suspended if unfriendly countries, such as EU member states, did not pay for gas in rubles.
This is Jongsu Oh from VOA News.