Russia cuts gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria as conflict escalates
RUSSIA has cut off natural gas to Nato members Poland and Bulgaria and threatened to do the same to other countries, dramatically escalating its stand-off with the West over the war in Ukraine.
European leaders decried the move as “blackmail”.
A day after the US and other Western allies vowed to speed more and heavier weapons to Ukraine, the Kremlin used its most essential export as leverage against two of Kyiv’s staunch backers.
Gas prices in Europe shot up consequently.
The tactic could eventually force targeted nations to ration gas and deal another blow to economies suffering from rising prices.
At the same time, it could deprive Russia of badly needed income to fund its war effort.
Poland has been a major gateway for the delivery of weapons to Ukraine and confirmed this week that it is sending the country tanks.
Bulgaria, under a new liberal government that took office last autumn, has cut many of its old ties to Moscow and supported sanctions against Russia over its invasion.
It has also hosted Western fighter jets at a new Nato outpost on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.
The gas cuts do not immediately put the two countries in dire trouble since they have worked on obtaining alternative sources for several years and the continent is heading into summer, making gas less essential for households.
Yet the cut-off and the Kremlin warning that other countries could be next sent shivers of worry through the European Union.
Western leaders and analysts portrayed the move by Russia as a bid to divide the Western allies and undermine their unity in support of Ukraine.
“It comes as no surprise that the Kremlin uses fossil fuels to try to blackmail us,” said EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
“Today, the Kremlin failed once again in its attempt to sow division amongst member states. The era of Russian fossil fuel in Europe is coming to an end.”
State-controlled Russian giant Gazprom said it was shutting off the
two countries because they refused to pay in Russian roubles, as President Vladimir Putin had demanded.
A number of other countries have also refused to do business in roubles.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, said the cut-off was a “weaponisation of energy supplies”.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov called the suspension blackmail, adding: “We will not succumb to such a racket.”
On the battlefield, fighting continued in the country’s east along a largely static front line some 300 miles (480 kilometres) long.
Russia claimed its missiles hit a batch of weapons that the US and European nations had delivered to Ukraine.
Just across the border in Russia, an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region was burning early yesterday after several explosions were heard, the governor said.
Explosions were also reported in Russia’s Kursk region near the Ukrainian border, and in Russia’s Voronezh region, authorities said an air defence system shot down a drone.
Earlier this week, an oil storage facility in the Russian city of Bryansk was engulfed by fire.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak hinted at the country’s involvement in the fires, saying in a Telegram post that “karma (is) a harsh thing”.